May-Hegglin Anomaly

You should not notice any clinical signs at home.

Dogs are born with this disorder, but it is often not recognized unless your veterinarian performs certain blood tests.

Your vet will likely be concerned because of the reduced number of platelets on a routine blood panel (CBC). Genetic testing and a blood smear evaluation will diagnose this disorder. However, as this is a rare disease, most veterinarians will first recommend a number of diagnostic tests and medications to rule out an underlying cause of the macrothrombocytopenia, including diseases of infectious, inflammatory, autoimmune, or toxic origins.

No treatment is required.

Talk to your vet about your dog’s May-Hegglin anomaly result, as it may influence how they interpret bloodwork or platelet counts.

Many dogs with this result never show symptoms or develop health problems related to this variant.

This mutation was first identified in a Pug.

Penetrance: This disorder has a dominant inheritance pattern, meaning that dogs with one or two copies of the mutation will show signs of the platelet and neutrophil changes.

Gene

MYH9

Inheritance type

dominant

Clinical category

Hematologic

Citations

1. Flatland et al 2011

• Pug