Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

General Information: Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in dogs is a severe and often fatal condition that typically manifests between 5 and 10 months of age. Clinical signs include rapid, labored, and noisy breathing, neck extension, bluish gums, and critically low blood oxygen levels. Radiographic imaging often reveals significant lung injury, and in some cases, the presence of air in the space surrounding the heart, trachea, esophagus, and other central thoracic structures (pneumomediastinum). Affected dogs usually experience a rapid decline in health and often die or require humane euthanasia within six weeks of the onset of symptoms due to the severity of the condition.

How to Read Your Dog's Test Results for this Genetic Variant:

Two Variants Detected: Dog Likely Affected

One Variant Detected: Dog Unlikely Affected

No Variants Detected: No Effect

Gene / Testing Information: Genetic testing for the ANLN variant can indicate if a dog is a carrier of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). This disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, meaning a dog must inherit two copies of the mutated gene to develop ARDS. Carrier dogs typically do not show symptoms but can produce affected puppies if bred with another carrier. Each puppy from such a pairing has a 25% chance of being affected and a 50% chance of being a carrier. Therefore, it is crucial to avoid breeding two carriers to eliminate the mutated genetic variant from breeding lines and prevent the risk of producing affected pups.