A case of brachiocephalic syndrome in a French bulldog

The brachiocephalic syndrome is characteristic of dogs and cats with short muzzles that often have breathing problems. The most common causes of respiratory disorders are stenosis of the nostrils, a protruding nasal fold, elongation and thickening of the soft palate, protrusion of the laryngeal sacs, etc. Brachiocephalic syndrome develops in short-faced dogs due to pathological changes in the structure of the upper and lower respiratory tract (collapse, malformation, various deformations). The degree of manifestation of symptoms can vary - from weak respiratory noises to suffocation and the development of acute hypoxia. The article presents the case history of a French bulldog dog, a female, with severe clinical signs of brachycephalic syndrome. In particular, there are pronounced signs of airway obstruction, digestive tract, spinal malformation, and reproductive tract deformation. The work aimed to comprehensively cover all manifestations of brachycephalic syndrome retrospectively, taking into account the dynamics of pathology manifestations, as well as the analysis and discussion of the effectiveness and results of treatment measures, both surgical and therapeutic. The results of clinical studies are described, and there is a vast arsenal of additional ones: laboratory and instrumental. In particular, the results of general and biochemical blood tests, coagulograms at different periods of the animal's life, the results of studies of the respiratory organs and the anterior digestive system, and individual bacteriological, computed tomography, resonance tomography, and histological studies are analyzed. It is shown that the first clinical manifestations of brachiocephalic syndrome are signs of airway obstruction, which gradually progress, starting from the act of feeding up to signs of sleep apnea, despite repeated surgical interventions (complex palatoplasty). The results of the musculoskeletal system study are indicated, demonstrating pronounced multiple pathologies of the spine (kyphosis, scoliosis, protrusions, degenerative-destructive changes in the intervertebral discs, syringomyelia). The results of postmortem histological studies of the gastric mucosa and duodenum are presented.