Gurltia paralysans, a metastrongyloid nematode, parasitizes in meningeal vessels in the thoracolumbar spinal cord of cats in South America and causes progressive paraparesis. Recently, the first report outside of South America described gurltiosis in a cat in Spain. As this parasitic disease has so far been largely neglected, especially outside of South America, the aim of the present case study was to add knowledge to the histologic and immunohistochemical characterization of central nervous lesions. To this purpose, formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples from the spinal cord and brain of five cats affected by clinical signs caused by Gurltia paralysans and of three control cats without CNS lesions were histopathologically examined using hematoxylin and eosin stain (HE), Elastica van Gieson stain, as well as periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) reaction. Moreover, immuno- histochemistry for alpha smooth muscle actin and Factor VIII-related antigen were performed to characterize vascular lesions. Lesions were consistent with previous descriptions and were mainly located in the spinal cord and consisted of chronic suppurative or lymphoplasmahistiocytic meningi tis as well as suppurative vasculitis, congestion and varicosis of meningeal veins. In view of the recent detection of this parasite in Europe and the increasing inner-European transport of rescued domestic cats, veterinarians in Europe should be aware of the clinical and pathomorphological presentation of this disease.

ZusammenfassungDieses Fallbeispiel zeigt ein bisher selten beschriebenes Myxosarkom in der ventrolateralen Halsregion eines 1-jährigen Teddy-Hamsters. Die zytologische Beurteilung eines Feinnadelaspirats aus der Umfangsvermehrung zeigte zahlreiche pleomorphe Spindelzellen, die in hohen Mengen in einer muzinösen Matrix gelegen waren. Zytologisch wurde aufgrund der ausgeprägten Malignitätskriterien der Spindelzellpopulation der Verdacht auf eine maligne mesenchymale Neoplasie geäußert. Die Matrix war dabei hinweisend auf ein zugrundeliegendes Myxosarkom. Der Hamster verstarb im Rahmen der operativen Entfernung der Zubildung. Die Histopathologie zeigte eine vollständige Übereinstimmung mit den zytologischen Befunden. In der Immunhistochemie stellte sich der Tumor Vimentin-positiv mit Alzianblau-positiver Matrix dar und bestätigte die zytologische Verdachtsdiagnose. Der Fall zeigt, dass die Zytologie als minimalinvasives Diagnostikum auch beim Kleinsäuger angewendet werden kann und Rückschlüsse auf die zugrundeliegende Pathologie von Zubildungen ermöglicht. Zum biologischen Verhalten des Myxosarkoms beim Hamster ist aufgrund der seltenen Fallbeschreibungen jedoch bislang wenig bekannt.

A 6-year-old male, neutered minipig developed progressive hindlimb weakness and finally became recumbent. Clinical and laboratory examination revealed restricted hindlimb mobility and weight bearing with unimpaired reflexes and proprioception as well as marked non-regenerative macrocytic anaemia, neutropenia and lymphocytopenia. Underlying bone marrow disease and haematopoietic neoplasia were assumed after exclusion of spinal disc herniation and infectious causes for anaemia. Despite stabilising therapy, the animal died 7 days later. Postmortem examination revealed multiple beige-coloured nodules affecting many organs including the bone marrow and consisting of neoplastic round cells with intracytoplasmic eosinophilic granules. Using various histopathological stains and immunohistochemistry, the neoplastic cells were determined to be of eosinophil granulocyte origin. Granulocytic sarcoma is a rare form of myeloid neoplasia with only two published porcine cases. With the increasing popularity of minipigs as companion animals, extensive awareness and information concerning illnesses in these animals should be available to practitioners.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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