Assessment of the likelihood of hypothyroidism in dogs diagnosed with and treated for hypothyroidism at primary care practices: 102 cases (2016-2021)

Abstract

Background: There is a possibility that an incorrect diagnosis of hypothyroidism could be made in euthyroid dogs, and the prevalence of hypothyroidism in the dog population remains unknown.

Objectives: To retrospectively assess the percentage of dogs diagnosed with, and treated for, hypothyroidism at first opinion practice which are likely to be hypothyroid and require levothyroxine supplementation.

Animals: One hundred two client-owned dogs were included in this study.

Materials and methods: The computerized databases of 7 first opinion practices were searched to identify dogs treated with levothyroxine supplementation. Three European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine-Companian Animals (ECVIM-CA) diplomates independently assigned 1 of 4 clinical assessments to each case as follows: confirmed or likely hypothyroid, hypothyroidism suspected but not confirmed, hypothyroidism considered unlikely, and no reason to suspect hypothyroidism. They commented as to whether or not they thought levothyroxine supplementation was appropriate.

Results: The clinical assessments of "confirmed or likely hypothyroid"; "Hypothyroidism suspected but not confirmed"; "Hypothyroidism considered unlikely"; and "No reason to suspect hypothyroidism" was assigned respectively by Clinician 1 to 38.2%, 5.9%, 3.9%, and 52% of cases, by Clinician 2 to 48%, 22.6%, 22.6%, 6.9% of cases, and by Clinician 3 to 55.9%, 11.8%, 13.7% and 18.6%. Clinician 1, Clinician 2, and Clinician 3 considered levothyroxine supplementation not indicated in 58.8%, 52.9%, and 45.1% of cases, respectively.

Conclusion: These results support the concern that hypothyroidism might be overly and incorrectly diagnosed in first opinion practice, and that thyroid function testing should be performed only in those dogs with a high pretest probability of the disease.

Keywords: endocrinology; levothyroxine; thyroid gland; thyroxine; total T4.