by Nancy Houser

Created on: August 17, 2011   Last Updated: August 20, 2011

Idiopathic chylothorax is a difficult disease to treat in dogs, known for its resulting pattern of unsatisfactory treatments and a poor long-term outcome. A lot of this difficulty lies in the fact the cause of chylothorax in many dogs is unknown or poorly understood-causing it to be labeled idiopathic chylothorax.

Treatments up to 1990 were not successful, leading to large numbers of dogs with the disease dying from lack of proper treatment. Surgery began to be used after this, still unsuccessful until the smaller surgeries began to be used.  If the cause is known in dogs with chylothorax, the it could be from chest disease, trauma, cancer, surgery, disease of the circulatory system, or congenital abnormalities of the thoracic duct.

Chylothorax surgery

Prior to the use of surgeries, periodic drainages or medical therapies treated chylothorax disease in dogs, but usually failed to provide long-term relief. Open surgery for dogs diagnosed with idiopathic chylothorax and chylothorax began around 1982, with a 50 to 60% success rate. (Hospital)

Over the past 25 years, minimum invasive surgery has slowly replaced the larger “open surgeries.” Laparoscopy and thoracoscopy are the minimum surgical procedures used today, small tiny “keyhole” incisions with a minimum amount of pain for the dog.  

Symptoms of chylothorax

Common symptoms of chylothorax in dogs include coughing, dyspnea, weight loss, anorexia, gagging, lethargy, regurgitation, vomiting, exercise intolerance and salvation. Physical findings in the dog’s abdomen may include tachycardia, bronchovesicular sounds, muffle heart sounds, and dyspnea. (Clerkship Program)

Chylothorax is a secondary disease, a disease with no gender predisposition. Age is a factor in dogs that are susceptible to chylothorax, as younger dogs with chylothorax disease are associated with idiopathic, trauma-related and congenital causes. Older dogs with chylothorax are associated with heart disease and neoplasia. Additionally, dog breeds who are at an increased relative risk for the disease are Afghan hounds and Mastiffs. 

New surgical treatments for chylothorax in dogs

According to “for the Treatment of Chylothorax in the Dog,” chylothorax is a disease where the fatty fluid, called chyle, accumulates within the chest cavity…draining from the abdominal lymphatic channels. Echocardiography or ultrasonography is used to identify the underlying cause of the fluid in

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