So many of us here have dogs who were diagnosed with having "MVD" or hepatic microvascular dysplasia. A few months ago, one of my vets mentioned to me that the term "MVD" was falling out of use and was now being called Portal Vein Hyperplasia or PVH. When I mentioned to another vet that my dog had long been an "MVD dog" she also commented that this was now called PVH.
I found this article from the University of TN written by Dr. Tobias fairly recently in 2013. I found that the term MVD really has been changed to PVH for non-shunt cases. I thought this was a good read overall. I was especially interested in the following points:
1. If bile acids are abnormal at 8 weeks of age, liver disease should be suspected, and the puppy’s blood should be retested at 12 weeks of age for abnormalities in bile acids and chemistries. Because congenital PSS and PVH-MVD are so common in Yorkies...bile acids and chemistries should be evaluated at 4 to 6 months of age for evidence of liver dysfunction
2. MVD-PVH is NOT caused by vaccines because it is an inherited disease
3. Dogs with MVD-PVH should be on heartworm and other preventatives just like any other dog
4. The prognosis is usually very good with many dogs living long lives
5. A random sampling at UT predicts that 50% of yorkies are estimated to have MVD-PVH.
6. Dogs with MVD-PVH who have clinical signs may need protein restricted diets, but those without clinical signs may not.
7. Although this is a genetic issue, and the recommendation is to never breed a dog with a PSS, the jury is out as to whether MVD-PVH dogs should not be bred since many healthy dogs can carry the genes. https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/vmc/Dow...NAL-201304.pdf