Polyglucosan body disease in a mixed-breed dog.

AIM: To describe the histopathology of a previously unrecorded canine disease and deduce the cause of the lesions.

METHODS

Formalin-fixed tissues were processed into paraffin wax and epoxy resin for light and electron microscopy of variously stained sections of liver, brain, heart muscle and kidney.

RESULTS

Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) -positive bodies in liver and myocardium were typical of a polyglucosan body disease. Neurons contained coarse granular material that stained similarly to the polyglucosan bodies.

CONCLUSION

The nature, distribution and histochemistry of lesions observed are consistent with a putative diagnosis of Glycogen storage disease type IV, an inherited metabolic defect associated with a deficiency of glycogen-branching enzyme not previously reported in dogs.