Recurrent pericardial effusion 8 year old boy

Hello all,

I'm writing on here in case there is the remotest chance anyone has come across similar and has an answer.

My staffy, Kenny, has recurrent pericardial effusion that is mediated by prednisone. He's had a pericardiectomy and numerous scans. The "initial" diagnosis was idiopathic pericardial effusion or mesothelioma. There are no lumps anywhere near his heart or in other organs. We put him on prednisone for 3 months and all was going well(ish). He was still lethargic, had trouble catching his breath and was walking very slowly. He was happy and still wanted to play all the time and was trying to eat me out of house and home. The steroids started to cause some other issues so we slowly withdrew them. He had a follow up scan today and the effusion is back around the top of his heart. The vets are now stumped because prednisone would not normally mediate effusion from mesothelioma and most other causes of effusion should have been resolved after 3 months on steroids.

I don't suppose anyone on here has any insights into what could be causing the issue?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Jon

Hi & welcome.

I'm sorry, I've no experience with pericardial effusion, but didn't want your post to go unnoticed.

What were the side effects of the Prednisone? Could they be managed if the steroids help?

Thank you.

The main side effects were over eating (he was starving all the time and I could only control it to a certain extent) and muscle weakness. The vet was also worried about bleeds. The vet thinks the effusion could also be controlled with metacam but unfortunately Kenny does not tolerate it well at all.

The main issue is that there is obviously something causing the inflammation that in turn causes the effusion. The steroids are just managing the symptoms and not the cause.

I will keep trying....

Thanks again.

So sorry I can't be more help - maybe someone else here has more experience with it.

Hi from me & Katy. Sorry to hear Kenny has this condition but I'm the same as Caryll & haven't come across this condition before. I hope you can get some answers.
Are you on Facebook? If so try asking on Pet Vet Corner as they only have qualified vets answering questions