Veterinary Medicine - February 2008 - (Page 104) CE PEER-REVIEWED Trilostane: A therapeutic consideration for canine hyperadrenocorticism Choices in medical therapy for dogs with hyperadrenocorticism can be limited. Studies have shown that trilostane provides another option for treating this disease— as well as alopecia X. Audrey K. Cook, BVM&S, MRCVS, DACVIM, DECVIM-CA I n 2001, trilostane, a synthetic steroid analogue, was licensed in the United Kingdom for treating canine pituitaryand adrenal-dependent hyperadrenocorticism. Trilostane is currently undergoing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review for the same purposes in the United States. In this article, I brie y review the diagnosis and treatment of hyperadrenocorticism and then present the current knowledge on trilostane, discuss therapeutic considerations, and address possible adverse effects. HYPERADRENOCORTICISM Hyperadrenocorticism is a clinical syndrome arising from chronic, excessive exposure to glucocorticoids. It is also referred to as Cushing’s syndrome in recognition of the work done by Dr. Harvey Cushing, a pioneering neurosurgeon, in the early 1900s. There are three types of hyperadrenocorticism. • Pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (PDH) involves excessive cortisol secretion in response to an inappropriate release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by a pituitary tumor Audrey K. Cook, BVM&S, MRCVS, DACVIM, DECVIM-CA Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843 104 February 2008 VETERINARY MEDICINE Illustration by Dan Rogers
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.