Fatal course of undetected Ewing-like sarcoma in a 9-year-old boy with uncharacteristic clinical presentation

A 9-year-old boy collapsed shortly after complaining of shortness of breath. Despite immediate resuscitation measures, the boy died. A few weeks earlier, he had received antibiotic treatment for respiratory infection. However, the post-mortem examination revealed an advanced tumor mass of the mediastinum with infiltration of vital structures, which was identified as a small blue round neoplasm with aspects of an extramedullary Ewing-like sarcoma by supplementary histological and immunohistochemical examinations.This dramatic clinical course of events shows that the possible presence of serious diseases should always be considered behind harmless symptoms, even in children.

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in a Very Young Person

Objectives:Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most common form of human prion disease and typically occurs in mid-to-late life. sCJD in early adulthood is extremely uncommon. The purpose of this report is to raise awareness of young cases of sCJD that are not associated with a genetic mutation or acquired prion disease risk factors.Methods:We describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic work-up, and post-mortem examination of a 22-year-old man with sCJD.Results:The patient presented with a rapidly progressive neurocognitive disorder consisting of early and prominent psychiatric symptoms. Cerebrospinal (CSF) real time quaking induced conversion (RT-QuIC) was indeterminate, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was suggestive of prion disease. Neuropathologic examination and the absence of a genetic mutation and acquired prion disease risk factors resulted in a final diagnosis of sCJD.Discussion:Although extremely rare, sCJD can occur in young people and should be considered in the setting of rapidly progressive neuropsychiatric conditions. Post-mortem examination is required to diagnose the type of prion disease and remains important to surveil for known and potentially novel acquired prion diseases.

An Accessible Diagnostic Toolbox to Detect Bacterial Causes of Ovine and Caprine Abortion

Results of laboratory investigations of ovine and caprine cases of abortion in the lambing season 2015–2016 were analyzed, using pathology records of submissions to Royal GD (Deventer, the Netherlands) from January until and including April 2016, in comparison with the results of two accessible alternative techniques for sampling aborted lambs and kids, swabbing the fetal oropharynx and puncture of the fetal lung. Chlamydia abortus was the main cause of abortion in sheep as well as in goats. Other causes of abortion were Campylobacter spp., Listeria spp., Escherichia coli, and Yersinia enterocolitica. Ovine pathological submissions resulted more often in detecting an infectious agent compared to caprine submissions. For the three main bacterial causes of abortion, Campylobacter spp., Listeria spp., and Chlamydia spp., compared to results of the pathological examination, oropharynx mucus, and fetal lung puncture samples showed an observed agreement of 0.87 and 0.89, an expected agreement of 0.579 and 0.584, and a kappa value of 0.691 and 0.737 (95% CI: 0.561–0.82 and 0.614–0.859), respectively. The agreement between the results of the pathological examination and both fetal lung puncture and oropharynx mucus samples was classified as good. In conclusion, although a full step-wise post-mortem examination remains the most proper way of investigating small ruminant abortions, the easily accessible, low-threshold tools for practitioners and farmers as described in this paper not only provide reliable results compared to results of the post-mortem examination but also stimulates farmers and veterinarians to submit fetuses and placentas if necessary. Suggestions for further improvement of both alternatives have been summarized. Both alternatives could also be tailor-made for specific regions with their specific causes of abortion.

Equine lymphoma: a review

Lymphoma is the most commonly occurring equine haemopoietic neoplasm, accounting for 1.3–2.8% of all neoplasia identified in horses. The disease broadly takes one of five forms: multicentric, alimentary, cutaneous, mediastinal and solitary extranodal tumours. Lymphoma can be classified by immunophenotype, allowing more accurate prognostication and individualised chemotherapeutic protocols. Clinical signs are usually insidious in onset and clinicopathological changes tend to be broad and non-specific, impeding early antemortem diagnosis. It is not uncommon with internal tumours that a diagnosis is not made until post-mortem examination. Treatment options are limited and often cost-prohibitive, and advanced disease progression at time of diagnosis means that euthanasia is usually opted for, as treatment is very rarely curative. Earlier diagnosis may improve prognosis if therapeutic options are viable to owners, so lymphoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis in many cases.

Prevalence of some common bacterial diseases in commercial poultry farm

Bacterial disease of poultry is one of the major constraints to the expansion of poultry industry. The study was undertaken to investigate some common bacterial diseases in commercial poultry farm. A total of 100 sick and dead chickens (67 broilers, 26 layers and 7 sonali) were collected from different poultry farms which were subjected to postmortem examination for tentative diagnosis. After the post-mortem examination, out of 100 collected dead chickens, bacterial diseases were confirmed 58 %. Among them 52 % of the chickens were diagnosed tentatively to be the case of colibacillosis, 4 % salmonellosis, and 2 % of fowl cholera. In post-mortem examination, some pathological lesions like: omphalitis, fibrinopurulent fluid accumulation in peritoneal cavity, air sacculitis, pericarditis and perihepatitis, extreme congestion and septicemia in intestine for colibacillosis infection; unabsorbed yolk mass, bronze discoloration and friable liver, hemorrhages in spleen, misshaped ova for salmonellosis as well as swollen and hardening of comb, congestion of skin, multiple pin point pale color necrotic lesion on liver, pin point hemorrhage on fat muscle of heart were observed for fowl cholera infection. Hence, this study will definitely help to perceive the prevalence of common bacterial diseases like colibacillosis, salmonellosis and fowl cholera infection in commercial poultry farm.

Spontaneous outbreak of Pascalia glauca poisoning in sheep in Argentina

Pascalia glauca is a native weed and one of the most common hepatotoxic plant affecting cattle in Argentina. Although experimental P. glauca poisoning have been reported in sheep, no spontaneous cases have been reported in this species. This work describes an outbreak of intoxication after spontaneous consumption of P. glauca, affecting 20% (6/30) sheep of a commercial flock. Affected sheep were ataxic, depressive, with mucous nasal discharge, cough and abdominal breathing. During post mortem examination, liver was swollen and a diffuse enhancement of the reticular pattern (“nutmeg liver”) was visible. Histopathological examination reveals severe and extensive acute diffuse centrilobular hepatic necrosis with hemorrhage. The presence of the toxic plant, the clinical and pathological findings allows us to confirm the etiology of this outbreak.

Olivopontocerebellar degeneration associated with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric aciduria in a domestic shorthair cat

Case summary A rescue charity-owned 6-month-old neutered female domestic shorthair cat was presented with progressive tetraparesis, increased extensor muscle tone and signs of spinocerebellar ataxia, including hypermetria. The cat’s male sibling, with similar progressive neurological signs, had been euthanased 2 months previously. An inherited metabolic disorder was suspected. Urine for determination of organic acid concentration was obtained and the cat was prescribed carnitine and taurine supplementation. The cat was euthanased 3 months later following progressive neurological signs, including ataxia, tetraparesis, tendency to fall, bilateral absent menace response and intention tremor. A selective post-mortem examination was obtained, taking samples from the brain, cervical spinal cord, tibial branch of the sciatic nerve, muscle, liver and kidneys. Organic acid analysis results received after euthanasia revealed a marked elevation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid (45 mmol/mol creatine [normal range 0–2]) and isovalerylglycine (27 mmol/mol creatinine [normal range 0–2]). 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid was deemed clinically relevant as it is a metabolite of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase, the enzyme involved in the final step of leucine degradation. Post-mortem examination revealed diffuse, chronic-active, severe olivoponto-(spino)-cerebellar degeneration. Relevance and novel information This is the first report of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric aciduria in the veterinary literature and the first description of the neuropathology of this disorder in any species. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaric aciduria in humans occurs rarely and is due to a deficiency in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A lyase.