Persistent ovarian syndrome in pets – diagnostic protocols and differential diagnosis

Ovarian remnant syndrome is a rare medical disorder that develops when ovarian tissue is left behind, into the abdomen, following routine genital tract surgery. The main clinical signs in small animals are heat behaviour and the presence of vaginal bloody secretions, but the diagnosis of certainty, in some cases, may not be so easy to establish, taking into account the variability of behavioral changes. The diagnosis should be performed using a precise protocol that allows a confident unequivocal diagnosis prior to any other therapeutic decision. The diagnosis protocol used must take into account the main physiological characteristics of each species and sustain a differential to the main diseases or affections which can clinically mimic, at least partially, the symptoms of remnant ovary syndrome.