Diseases’ clinical-epidemiological characterization assists in directing the diagnosis. The objective of this study was to describe epidemiological, clinical and laboratorial aspects of a case series of canine hyperadrenocorticism (HAC). One-hundred fifteen records of dogs diagnosed by the low dose dexamethasone suppression test and/or ACTH stimulation test were evaluated. Of the cases, 81.3% were HAC ACTH-dependent and 18.7% HAC ACTH-independent. Females were more affected, representing 69.3% of the cases. The mean age was 10.3±2.5 years and 64.9% were gonadectomized. Most of the patients were small size dogs, weighting less than 10kg (73.9%). The most frequent breeds were: Poodle (27%), Dachshund (17.4%), and Yorkshire Terrier (10.4%). The most frequent clinical manifestations were polyphagia (86%), polydipsia (82.6%), polyuria (80%), abdominal enlargement (82.6%), thin skin (79.1%), muscular weakness (78.3%) and panting (74.8%). However, eventually unusual HAC-associated signs would be present in some dogs in a more important way compared with the classic disease´s clinical signs. The CBC showed neutrophilia (66%), eosinopenia (58.3%) and lymphopenia (42.6%) as main hematological abnormalities. The most common findings in serum biochemistry were increased alkaline phosphatase activity (81.74%), increased ALT activity (62.6%), hypercholesterolemia (66%) and hypertriglyceridemia (54.7%). Urinalysis revealed hyposthenuria in 14.9% and isostenuria in 13.5%; besides proteinuria in 50% of the cases. Abdominal ultrasound showed bilateral adrenal hyperplasia (92.2%) with adrenal asymmetry in 20.8% of the cases, in addition to hepatomegaly (80.9%), biliary sludge (67.8%) and hepatic hyperechogenicity (47.8%). It was concluded that small size gonadectomized female dogs, mainly Poodles and Dachshunds, presented higher frequency in the population studied, and that the main changes observed in clinical and complementary tests were polyphagia, polyuria, polydipsia, abdominal enlargement, adrenal hyperplasia, increased phosphatase alkaline and hyperlipidemia. These results corroborated to a better disease characterization at Brazil. This work concluded that the population studied resembles the profile describe in European and North American epidemiologic studies, and that the HAC dog´s clinical picture looks similar worldwide.

Progress in clinical practice, research, and teaching needs a common language. Agreement among veterinary endocrinologists on definitions of concepts related to Cushing’s syndrome (CS) and hypoadrenocorticism is lacking. After a successful inaugural cycle on diabetes mellitus terminology, project Agreeing Language in Veterinary Endocrinology (ALIVE) held a second cycle, with simplified methodology, and brought together 10 experts of the European Society of Veterinary Endocrinology (ESVE) and the Society of Comparative Endocrinology (SCE). It employed a four-round modified Delphi Method to generate draft definitions and try and achieve consensus. A final round used an endorsement survey of the expert-generated definitions distributed to the ESVE and SCE memberships, seeking a simple majority endorsement. A minimum of 20% membership participation was sought. The 10 experts achieved 100% consensus on the definition of 35 adrenal disease-associated concepts, including disease definitions, diagnostic criteria, and test definitions, a disease classification system for CS and hypoadrenocorticism, and a clinical scoring system for CS. Definitions were subsequently assessed by 78 ESVE and SCE members (26% of combined memberships). All definitions achieved a simple majority, ranging from 83.1 to 100%. ALIVE proved effective in creating a body of terminology for adrenal disease in companion animals, which met the overall approval of a majority of those participating in the endorsement phase. The prospective use of these definitions could help improve comparability and standards for adrenal disease research, education, and clinics.