Cardiomyopathies in Animals

A wide variety of animal models in cardiomyopathy have been established for the discovery of pathophysiological mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of human myocardial disease. Experimentally, several species including rodents, rabbit, canine, pig, and sheep have been involved in the fundamental research in medical field. However, knowledge about naturally occurring myocardial disease in animals is limited in the veterinary medicine. Among small and large animals that develop myocardial disease, to the best of authors’ knowledge, naturally occurring cardiomyopathy in canine and feline is commonly encountered in veterinary clinical setting. Their pathophysiology is not fully described; specific pathophysiology is documented in both species, which resembles those of humans. These conditions are hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in feline and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in canine. Each has distinct etiology and pathophysiology. In order to translate new findings from naturally occurring cardiomyopathies in small and large animals into medical applications, knowledge gained through animals with cardiomyopathies becomes a necessary approach. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the overview of findings on small and large animals with naturally occurring cardiomyopathies already investigated

A Case of Canine Cutaneous Clear Cell Adnexal Carcinoma with Prominent Expression of Smooth Muscle Actin

Cutaneous clear cell adnexal carcinoma was found in the right lip of a 14-year-old male castrated Shih Tzu. Histologically, the tumor mostly consisted of neoplastic cells with clear or vacuolated cytoplasms and contained frequent tubular structures. Neoplastic cells showed coexpression of pan-cytokeratin (CK) and vimentin by double-labeled immunofluorescence staining. In addition, immunohistochemistry revealed that the tumor cells were positive for pan-CK (AE1/AE3, KL1, CAM 5.2), CK-7, CK-8, CK-14, CK-15, CK-18, vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA) with varied intensity and positivity. Among these marker proteins, SMA was positive in 75% of the tumor cells. On the other hand, CK-15, which is a specific marker of follicular stem cells, was expressed in less than 1% of the tumor cells. Based on these findings, the tumor showed diverse differentiation in apocrine sweat glands and the inner and outer root sheaths of hair follicles, indicating the follicular stem cell to be the origin of this tumor

Klinički i patološki nalazi kod pojave Tyzzerove bolesti u kunića u Hrvatskoj

Clinical and pathological findings found during an outbreak of Tyzzer’s disease in a rabbit colony in Croatia are described in this paper. The disease occurred in young rabbits, approximately 50 days old. Over a period of six months, 148 weaned rabbits from a total group of 1753 weaned animals died with symptoms of severe gastrointestinal disease. The main clinical signs observed were diarrhea, abdominal distension, anorexia, weight loss and apathy. Five weaned rabbits were examined at the Department of Pathology of Veterinary Faculty. In all necropsied animals severe entero-hepatic lesions were seen characterized by disseminated hepatic focal necroses and transmural necrotic typhlitis. Only one animal had necrotic myocarditis. For histopathology the tissue blocks were sectioned in 5μm thick sections and stained using HE, PAS, GMS and the Giemsa method. Immunohistochemistry using anti-Clostridium piliforme RT and MSK strains reacted positively within the hepatocytes and intestine. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay (liver and caecum) amplified the 196-bp DNA fragment specifi c to 16S ribosomal RNA of C. piliforme. This is the first confirmed and described case of Tyzzer’s disease in rabbits in Croatia.U radu su opisani klinički i patološki nalazi Tyzzerove bolesti u jednom uzgoju kunića u Hrvatskoj. Bolest se pojavila u mladih kunića prosječne dobi od 50 dana. U razdoblju od 6 mjeseci uginulo je 148 odbijenih kunića od ukupno 1753 životinje sa znakovima jake gastrointestinalne bolesti. Glavni su klinički znaci bili proljev, proširenje trbuha, anoreksija, gubitak težine i apatija. U Zavodu za opću patologiju i patološku morfologiju Veterinarskoga fakulteta bilo je pregledano pet životinja. Na razudbi su u svih životinja utvrđene jake enterohepatične lezije karakterizirane diseminiranim fokalnim nekrozama po jetrima i nekrotičnom upalom cijele stijenke slijepoga crijeva. U jedne životinje je utvrđen i nekrotični miokarditis. Za patohistološku pretragu uklopljena tkiva rezana su u rezove debljine 5 μm i bojena HE, PAS, GMS i Giemsa metodom. Imunohistokemijska reakcija pri upotrebi anti-RT i anti-MSK sojeva antiseruma protiv Clostridium piliforme bila je pozitivna unutar hepatocita i crijeva (Dr. S. Kawamura, Laboratory of Biomedical Science, Dept. of Veterinary Medical Science, University of Tokyo). PCR je pokazao amplifikaciju 196-bp DNA fragmenta specifičnoga za 16S ribosomsku RNA bakterije C. piliforme. Ovo je prvi potvrđeni i opisani slučaj Tyzzerove bolesti u kunića u Hrvatskoj

新生豚にみられた先天性過骨症

先天性過骨症は，前肢の硬化・腫脹を特徴とする新生豚の稀な疾患である。本疾患は常染色体の劣性遺伝によるものと考えられているが，原因や発生機序は明らかにされていない。病変部は四肢に限局し，橈骨・尺骨で顕著である。我々は分娩直後に死亡した雌の子豚に前肢の硬化・腫脹を認め，病理学的に先天性過骨症と診断した。組織学的に腫脹していた橈骨・尺骨では線維性骨梁が皮質骨表面から放射状に伸長し，周囲骨格筋は変性・萎縮し，線維化していた。後肢やその他臓器には著変はみられなかった。鑑別診断として，先天性筋症と肺性肥大性骨症が挙げられるが，前者は本例の病変が骨に主座し筋原線維の一次性構造異常がないことから，また後者は造骨形態や胸腔内に腫瘤病変がないことから否定された。Congenital hyperostosis is a rare disease of newborn pigs, characterized by thickening and sclerosis of the forelimbs. It has been suspected that it is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, but the pathogenesis of the bone abnormalities has not been clarified. The lesions are characteristically localized in the limbs, and the radius and ulna are the most severely affected. We examined a female piglet who died right after delivery; the piglet showed thickening and sclerosis of the forelimbs, and the bone lesions were diagnosed as congenital hyperostosis. Histologically, fibrous trabecular bone proliferated radially and extended out from the surface of cortical bone of the swollen radius and ulna. The skeletal muscles around the bones showed degeneration and atrophy with fibrosis. No lesions were found in other bones and organs. For the differential diagnosis, congenital myopathy and pulmonary hypertrophic osteopathy were considered, but myopathy was excluded because of the lesion distribution and the absence of a primary structural abnormality of myofibrils, while pulmonary hypertrophic osteopathy was also excluded because of the different form of osteogenesis and the absence of a tumor in the thoracic cavity

膀胱反転による尿路変更術を実施した尿道腫瘍のイヌ1症例

排尿困難を主訴として来院した8歳齢，雌のミニチュアダックスフントに対し各種検査を行った結果，近位尿道部に発生した腫瘍に起因する尿道閉塞と診断した。排尿困難の改善と腫瘍摘出を目的とし，尿道膣吻合術を計画した。しかし，開腹下での所見において腫瘍が膀胱尿道移行部にまで浸潤していたため，計画していた術式を断念し，膀胱を反転させ膀胱尖部と遠位尿道部を吻合する新たな尿路変更術を試みた。術後，生存期間中は蓄尿機能の温存および自力排尿が可能となり，良好な排尿状態が得られた。An 8-year-old female Miniature Dachshund was presented for evaluation of dysuria, and urethral obstruction due to a proximal urethral tumor was diagnosed after a series of examinations. To relieve dysuria and to remove the tumor, urethral-vaginal anastomosis was the initial option but it was not possible, because tumor invasion into the vesicoureteral junction was found during the surgery. A new urinary diversion technique was attempted instead, and the bladder apex was flipped caudally and anastomosed to the distal urethra. After the surgery, good urinary patency was restored, and the bladder’s pooling function and voluntary urination were maintained throughout the duration of survival

腎生検を行った蛋白漏出性腎疾患の犬2例，猫1例における比較検討

高度蛋白尿を呈す犬2例，猫1例について腎生検を行い，病理学的変化，治療経過および予後を比較した。　病理学的変化は，病変なし（糸球体微小変化型病変の疑い），膜性増殖性糸球体腎炎（MPGN），巣状分節性硬化（FSGS）の疑いであった。MPGNの症例は急性経過をとり死亡し，他の2例は長期生存した。　生存した2症例にはACEI （アンギオテンシン変換酵素阻害剤）およびシクロスポリンによる治療を行った。UPCの推移や治療反応は一様ではなかった。　獣医療域において蛋白漏出性腎疾患には多様な病態が含まれていることが示唆され，糸球体障害の種類や障害の程度の把握などに腎生検が有益であった。　一方で臨床症状と生検結果に沿った適切な薬剤の選択には更なる検討が必要であり，今後は症例数を重ねて更なる検討が必要であると考えられた。A cat and two dogs with severe proteinuria underwent renal biopsy for pathological diagnosis, and their clinical outcome and prognosis were compared. Their pathological findings were all different: no abnormality (suspected of minimal change glomerular disease); membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) and suspected focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. The dog with MPGN died in an acute course. They were treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and cyclosporine. The urine protein-to-creatinine ratio and response to treatment were not consistent in these cases. These results suggest that protein-losing nephropathy may present various pathological forms in small animalsand thus renal biopsy is essential for understanding the pathological process of the disease. Further research is needed to determine the best drug of choice based on the clinical symptoms and biopsy results