Spontaneous hemoabdomen most commonly occurs secondary to abdominal mass rupture, however, there is little information on prognosis related specifically to ruptured liver masses. The objectives of this study were to describe the histological distribution, prognostic factors and long-term outcomes for dogs with spontaneous hemoabdomen secondary to liver mass rupture. The primary hypothesis was that the majority would be malignant tumors. The secondary hypothesis was that the survival times would be prolonged compared to historically reported survival times for ruptured splenic masses. This was a multi-institutional retrospective study evaluating histopathology and survival time after liver lobectomy for rupture liver masses in 200 dogs. Well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma, benign masses, hemangiosarcoma and other malignant tumors accounted for 36%, 27.5%, 25.5%, and 11% of cases, respectively. Overall survival time for all dogs was 356 days and for the above categories was 897 days, 905 days, 45 days, and 109 days, respectively. Overall survival time in dogs with increased alanine transaminase was 644 versus 63 days with normal values. The main limitations of this study were related to its retrospective nature. This study shows that the overall survival time with surgery is favorable, especially compared to historically reported survival times for ruptured splenic masses. These survival times were not previously reported and may be useful for client discussions prior to surgery. Additionally, alanine transaminase testing may be a useful prognostic tool and should be further studied.
.jpg "Alexandra M. Reist, DVM photo")