Dog Community

Help with REACTIVE LYMPHOID HYPERPLASIA

PawMaid

Posted : 11/8/2011 5:52:52 PM

We had a ( Us and my holistic vet ) had to slides sent in of a mass about 2 inches aboveKobe’s knee.

Our Vet after feeling it thought it would be a good idea.

Our regular vet had looked at it and thought it was just a fatty deposit.

Anyways the Holistic Vet was trying her best to explain this to me, but I still a bit confussed.

cytologic findings are illustrate a reactive population of lymphocytes with increased numbers of eosinophils most consistent with a reactive lymph node that has borderline eosinophilic lymphadenitis (too few macrophages to

suggest an eosinophilic granuloma but could not be excluded).

Could be a

hypersensitivity reaction associated with allergic skin disease, insect bite or sting, fleas, fungal

disease (no organisms found), and as a paraneoplastic syndrome (no strong evidence for).

We do not have fleas and he did have some hot spots but those went away we switched to a

No grain food.

He is 10yrs and has had some allergy sneezing / hacking issues earlier this fall. But with the cold dry air and after a thorough cleaning and drying ( keeping it heated and dry) of the downstairs, we have had no issues.

She ( holistic Vet ) mentioned something about the immune system, but I admit I got a little over whelmed with the info on the phone. I can of course call or talk to her at any time.

Do any of you have experience with this and how did you treat it ?

Thanks

PawMaid

Posted : 11/8/2011 6:04:41 PM

I do understand that the lymph nodes tissues drain into /will become inflamed and swollen in response. This swelling is due to infection.

I am just looking for a better understanding and if this maybe a sign of something else or a way to provent futher issues with this.

Again Thank you.

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/8/2011 11:18:57 PM

I know NOTHING for sure -- but just trying to help you puzzle it out ...

Almost anything "allergy" has to do with the immune system, and of course the lymph nodes Hyperplasia has to do with an abnormal overgrowth of cells (like cells in a tissue). "reactive" has to mean some sort of allergic reaction probably triggered this to happen. Sort of sounds like the lymph tissue has an overgrowth of cells/tissue that are a reaction to some allergic type of response. That doesn't tell you much.

Lymphoid has to do with lymphocytes (webster rescues us here again): LYMPHOCYTE

: any of the colorless weakly motile cells that originate from stem cells and differentiate in lymphoid tissue (as of the thymus or bone marrow), that are the typical cellular elements of lymph, that include the cellular mediators of immunity, and that constitute 20 to 30 percent of the white blood cells of normal human blood

Now what that means for you, I'm not sure. What modalities does your holistic vet practice?

Did they remove this thing and this was the pathology or did they just do an aspirate?

Wish I could be more help here.

janet_rose

Posted : 11/9/2011 12:11:22 AM

You should have seen me when I had the mumps - swollen glands made me look like a little bulldog. Nothing serious - just the immune system doing its job.

Lymph nodes swelling can simply be a normal immune system response to attack. The vet must determine the nature of the attack - allergic, viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitical. The swelling can also be due to cancer, so that should be investigated, but cancer is only one of a very long list of things that can activate the immune system and cause lymph nodes to swell. The only thing definite that swollen lymph nodes indicate is that the immune system is fighting "something".

Here are some sites that may help:

http://www.pethealthandcare.com/dog-health/swollen-lymph-nodes-in-dogs.html
"There are numerous possible causes of enlarged lymph glands in dogs. The problem could range from something mild like a minor localized infection or a minor allergic reaction, to serious health problems such as infection of the lymph nodes themselves or even leukemia. To properly identify the cause, your veterinarian will need to perform a thorough physical examination, which will probably be followed by a blood test, urine test, and examination of lymph samples too."
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_reactive_lymphoid_hyperplasia
"Reactive lymphoid hyperplasia is a condition in which the lymph tissues of the body (lymph nodes and spleen, primarily) enlarge as they respond to a viral or bacterial infection. The reason they enlarge has to do with the way that lymph tissues work.

The lymph tissues of the body (also known as the reticuloendothelial system) are one of our lines of defense against outside invasion. Blood passes through these tissues, where it is monitored by specialized cells that live in the lymph tissues. If these cells detect an invader, they activate. In this activation process, the cells enlist the help of the reticuloendothelial system, causing it to produce millions of cells just like itself - all of which are capable of either (a) producing antibodies directed against the invader or (b) attacking the invader directly and phagocytizing ("eating";) it. This distinction depends mainly on the type of pathogen detected; some pathogens provoke an antibody response and some provoke a cell-mediated response.

In the process of reacting to the invasion and subsequent alarm, and while ramping up production of these cells, the lymph tissues enlarge. They do this because they become engorged with the immature cells before those cells can be released to do their job out in the body, and also partially because of the increase in blood flow and increase in metabolic activity in these tissues.

The term hyperplasia comes from the Greek root words hyper-, which means an increase, and plastein, a verb which means to form or make. The combination of the two creates a word whose meaning is basically "to make bigger"."
http://www.cldavis.org/cgi-bin/download.cgi?pid=28
"There are numerous causes of lymphoid hyperplasia because this is a defensive reaction by the body's immune system, i.e., dermatitis, septicemia, regional inflammation, metastatic tumor, etc., all stimulate lymphoid hyperplasia. Cytologic evaluation is very helpful in differentiating between neoplasia and lymphoid hyperplasia."
http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/cancer/c_multi_lymphadenopathy
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2083&aid=2975

PawMaid

Posted : 11/9/2011 1:00:12 AM

Thank you both,you where helpful. The lump was aspirated. She sent in 2 slides checking For cancer cells. no evidence of that. But she mentioned it maybe do to his immune system. Which concernes me. Kobe had a lot of issues his first 2yrs.some his vet thought maybe do to Lupus or his immune system. Test showed nothing conclusive at The time. He hasn't had any problems in years.he will be 12 In January. He has all these allergey like symptoms piping up .but his blood work always looks good. Ill call her tomorrow to clarify. :)

PawMaid

Posted : 11/9/2011 1:04:12 AM

Iam also trying to narrow down the cause of this flare up.

janet_rose

Posted : 11/9/2011 2:04:09 AM

PawMaid
But she mentioned it maybe do to his immune system.

Really glad that no cancer was detected, but her saying basically that "lymph nodes have something to do with the immune system" is sort of like saying "the stomach has something to do with digestion" - not very informative.

Has any of the blood work suggested that the problem was auto-immune (the body attacks itself) rather than a simple infection?

By the way, Lupus is an auto-immune disorder .

janet_rose

Posted : 11/9/2011 2:39:34 AM

PawMaid
I am also trying to narrow down the cause of this flare up.

I realize that you want to know the cause, but if it is something like a spider bite or a bee string, you may never know.

Has a full tick-panel been run? That is one test I would really want.

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/9/2011 11:05:49 AM

The distinction Janet is making is important -- one of the KEY things to get her to clarify is if they suspect something immune-mediate (a/k/a "auto-immune";) where the body attacks itself. That can be darned dangerous and incidious in how fast it can worsen.

PawMaid

Posted : 11/9/2011 1:13:40 PM

Yes I do I put a call in to her, She was trying explaining to me a few things.I think one I was so releived it was not cancer after losing Rogue to it this summer and 2 I was trying to write down and remember what she was telling me about the reative lymphoid hyperlasis.That I di not quite get everything she was telling me, it was until she emailed me the lab result that I stoped to think I should took a little more time and asked a lot more questions.

I usally much better at paying attention. We seem to acquirer the animals that are going to need a lot of medical care down the line.

Not complaining just saying, we always figure we have them becuase others may not of put the time and money into them had they gone to someone else. :-)

So you think Id be a pro at listening and learning :-)

It was many years ago another vet thought he may have an auto-immune condition like lupus. But he has not had any signs ( like he was having)for years.

Kobe has been my hardest dog to figure out whats going on with him. He never gives up conculsive results from a minor issue to more major issues. He does give his blood up easy either, poor pup looks like a pin cushion when he comes home from the vet.

His anual Geriatric exam is coming up and I plan to have some more test done ( then the basic blood work) after talking to the vet again.

including allergy testing.I may not ever figure out what cuased this flare up, but he seems to be having more and more signs of allergys/ allergy like systoms as he gets older.

Kobe is our first dog as adults ( our childhood dogs where farm dogs and looked at a lot diffrent then we feel about dogs) there for our very fist

experience with a senior dog.

Again I thank you for all your

guys help :-)

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/9/2011 3:07:54 PM

fwiw -- Dr. Dodds at Hemopet ha a new saliva based allergy testing that is FAR easier on the dog and very conclusive. you can go to http://www.hemopet.org and see it -- it's pretty new.