Alterações hematológicas associadas a presença de heterófilos tóxicos em aves

Abstract

The aim of this report was to describe the alterations found in blood counts of birds with toxic heterophils, correlating them with possible causes and prognosis. Were selected cases of seven birds, assisted at the Veterinary Hospital of the Universidade Federal do Paraná, departament of Palotina-PR, which presented toxic heterophils in their hemogram, and their presence were quantified as rare, moderate or severe. The blood count results were discussed and associated with the results of complementary tests such as coproparasitological tests, cytology, necropsies and radiographs exams. Of the cases described, four of them had moderately toxic heterophils, two of these evolved to death, and two showed clinical improvement; another three patients had rare toxic heterophils, all of whom were medical released. As a common point among patients with quantification of moderate toxicity who survived the occurrence of left shift and basophilia stands out, which are indicative of acute inflammation in birds, while those who died had monocytosis, a factor that may be associated the chronicity of the conditions. As for the etiologies, they ranged from bacterial infections, protozoosis, trauma, parasitism and acute liver disease. It was concluded that the presence of toxic heterophils was related to different causes, which presented a poor prognosis when classified as moderate, especially associated with changes suggestive of chronicity, while when classified as rare, it showed a good prognosis.