Simonetta Appino

Unusual case of uterine stump pyometra in a cat.

This report describes an unusual case of uterine stump pyometra in a cat whose main clinical sign at presentation was abdominal straining. At the time of ovariohysterectomy, the surgeon reported that the uterine body had a purulent content. Nearly a month after the surgery the cat showed abdominal straining. The enlarged uterine stump, filled with purulent fluid, had caused a compression of the rectum and secondary intestinal sub-occlusion. Surgical revision consisted of draining the purulent content of the remnant of the uterine body and ablating as much of it as possible; checking of the ovarian pedicles revealed the presence of a small fragment of whitish tissue on the right side, which was shown to contain, by means of histological observation and immunohistochemical staining, ovarian tissue. Four months after surgical revision the queen did not show any pathological signs and 1 year later she is still in good health.

Priapism in a castrated cat associated with feline infectious peritonitis

This report describes a case of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) in a castrated cat which first presented with the unusual sign of priapism. Laboratory examinations showed increased serum protein content and decreased albumin/globulin ratio. Serum electrophoresis revealed increased α2- and γ-globulin content. One month after the first examination, the cat died. At necropsy, histopathological evaluation of organs showed inflammatory granulomatous lesions compatible with non-effusive FIP and coronavirus-specific polymerase chain reaction confirmed the diagnosis. FIP antigen was demonstrated immunohistochemically in penile tissue.

Monophasic teratoma of the ovarian remnant in a bitch.

An exploratory laparotomy on a mixed-breed bitch of an estimated age of 5 years revealed that she had undergone ovariectomy in the past, but a cystic structure was present in the area of the right ovary and a whitish mass, approximately 3 cm in diameter, in the area of the left ovary. These structures were removed together with an apparently normal uterus. Histological examination of the cyst showed a thin layer of connective tissue, while the left ovarian mass revealed ovarian tissue and highly differentiated nervous tissue, confirmed through immunohistochemistry. A presumptive diagnosis of mature ovarian teratoma was made. Although teratomas generally contain recognizable elements from more than one of the three germ cell layers, they can also be monophasic, when there is only one germ layer component. Ovarian teratomas are rare in the dog and never before have been reported in an ovarian fragment.

Detection of Helicobacter in Gastric Washing of Cats

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of gastric washing for detecting the presence of Helicobacter spp. in feline gastric mucus. Gastric fluids were collected from 11 cats undergoing routine surgical procedures. The fluids were centrifuged and the pellets were subjected to cytological examination by May-Grünwald/Giemsa (MGG) staining and testing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Helicobacter after DNA extraction. Helicobacter spp. were detected in 8 of 11 samples by MGG staining and in 10 of 11 samples by PCR. Gastric washing proved to be a useful sampling technique and a valuable alternative to the gold-standard method of gastric biopsy, which has the risk of missing colonized spots in the case of patchy Helicobacter colonization. Gastric washing, a noninvasive way of sampling, could be applied to cats undergoing general anesthesia for different causes. Detection of Helicobacter in cats could allow epidemiological investigations, and sequencing of samples could assist in assessing the distribution of various Helicobacter species.

Map Lesions: In Situ Investigation on Samples of Multibacillar and Paucibacillar Ovine PTBC

Paratuberculosis (PTBC) is a chronic inflammation of the intestines of ruminants but it can also strike other species, including primates. Ovine paratuberculosis lesions have been the subject of authoritative observations (Perez et al ., 1996). The macroscopic picture shows a thickening and wrinkling of the intestinal mucous membrane , regional lymphangitis and lymphandenopathy, principally found in the terminal part of the ileum but also in the colon, jejunum and duodenum. Histomorphological pictures are characterised by chronic granulomatous enterocolitis, whose typical clinical symptom is the loss of weight due to profuse diarrhea. The etiological agent of PTBC is the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) (Marek, 1910); its presence gives rise to a persistent infection of the intestinal macrophages which appear foamy, in a small granuloma within the interfollicular-basal area of the Peyer’s plaques of the ileal tract. In some cases, even in the presence of marked lesions and clear, clinical symptomatology, coloration of the Ziehl-Nielsen (ZN) produces a negative result. DNA analysis of MAP has identified a peculiar insertion sequence, IS900, present in 15–20 pairs per genome (Green et al ., 1989).

Barrett’s Disease and Helicobacter Spp. Detection in Dogs with Gastritis

Barrett’s disease (BE) is a metaplastic disorder of the esophageal mucosa in which specialized columnar epithelium replaces healthy squamous epithelium; it is the most common cause of esophageal carcinoma in humans. The dog has been used as a model of Barrett’s esophagus, although the pathology is very rare in the species. In man, infection with Helicobacter pylori resulted inversely associated with BE. The role of Helicobacter spp. in dogs gastritis has not been fully elucidated, as in esophageal disease. Aim of this work was to evaluate esophageal and gastric biopsies of symptomatic dogs in association with the isolation of Helicobacter spp. and to describe and discuss a case of BE.