Quantification of morphology of canine circumanal gland tumors: a fractal based study

Circumanal gland tumors are very common neoplasms of dogs. Their classification relies on microscopic examination and is further supported by a few immunohistochemical markers that help indicate their prognosis. However, new additional tests would be highly useful. The purpose of this study was to develop such a test using fractal analysis which is increasingly being applied in science, especially in the field of biomedicine. A total of 53 circumanal gland tumors were chosen from our department archives. After a precise histological classification according to the World Health Organization classification, the number of de novo classified samples was as follows: 15 adenomas, 11 epitheliomas, 21 well differentiated carcinomas, 6 poorly differentiated carcinomas. Ten samples of normal circumanal gland were also included as control. All samples were immunohistochemicaly stained with vimentin. All immunohistochemical reactions were photographed at two different magnifications -100X and 400X and converted to 1 bit in black and white (bitmap) images thus enhancing the positive vimentin reactions. These images were used for the assessment of fractal dimension applying the box counting method and computer software Fractalyse. To determine the significance of results, conventional statistics were performed using Statistica software. The overall vimentin stain score was significantly higher in epitheliomas and carcinomas than in normal circumanal glands (CG) or adenomas. Mean values of fractal dimension estimated at magnification 100X and 400X were as follows: normal CG 1.318 and 1.372, CG adenomas 1.384 and 1.408, CG epitheliomas 1.547 and 1.597, CG well differentiated carcinomas 1.569 and 1.607, CG poorly differentiated carcinomas 1.679 and 1.723. Significant differences (at level of 5%) of these values were observed between individual groups of CG adenomas or normal CG, and epitheliomas or carcinomas. The above results indicate vimentin immunohistochemistry staining and assessment of fractal dimension as an ancillary diagnostic method of choice when discerning between benign and malignant tumors of circumanal glands. Additional development of the method of fractal dimension assesment may yield a possibility for this tool to successfully discern between all of the types of CG tumors.</p

Dirofilaria repens infection in a dog in Croatia- a case report

This work presents the finding of Dirofilaria repens microfilariae after necropsy on a dog in Croatia. The cause of death was peritonitis caused by perforation of the intestinal diverticula. Necropsy revealed severe cachexia with a phlegmonous subcutaneous inflammation in the cubital, coxal and carpal regions. The liver cirrhosis with icterus was also seen. Histopathological examination showed numerous microfilariae in all examined organs located predominantly intravascularly, but in the phlegmone, liver, lymph node and lungs they were located in the tissue of the haemorrhage area. Two otherwise healthy dogs which had lived in cohabitation with the necropsied one had been found positive by modified Knott’s test for D. repens microfilariae and were successfully treated with ivermectin. Key words: Dirofilaria repens, dog, pathomorpholog