A Case of a Bitch with Imperforate Hymen and Hydrocolpos.

Abstract

ABSTRACT. A 38-month-old female Golden retriever was presented with dysuria and dyschezia. It was difficult to visualize the vagina by vaginoscopy due to a cystic polyp on the hymen. The polyp was 2 × 3 cm in diameter, round, and pink in color. From clinical and imaging evaluations the original diagnosis was mucometra or pyometra. From endoscopic examination of the vagina an imperforate hymen was finally diagnosed. The ovaries, uterus, and half of the vagina were removed through a median abdominal incision. The vagina contained about 1.5 liters of fluid, but the uterus and ovaries appeared normal. This is a rare case with imperforate hymen and hydrocolpos with a polyp on the hymenal membrane in bitch. KEY WORDS: bitch, hydrocolpos, imperforate hymen.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 63(4): 475-477, 2001 Congenital abnormalities of the canine vagina and vulva are classified into six categories, including four vestibulovaginal ring strictures and two strictures in the vestibulovulvar area [12]. The female genital tract is formed from the Mullerian ducts and urogenital sinus [9]. The hymen is formed by fusion of the Mullerian ducts and urogenital sinus, and in domestic animals disappears during the fetal period or after birth [4,5,9]. An imperforate hymen causes hydrocolpos, hydrometra and hydorosalpinx (also hemato-, respectively) [10]. A similar accumulation of vaginal fluid is also caused from vaginal atresia and vaginal aplasia [10]. In the bitch and queen, there are a few reports of imperforate hymen [7,11] and vaginal atresia [2,7,13]. We report a Golden retriever bitch with imperforate hymen and hydrocolpos due to a polyp on the hymen, diagnosed by endoscopic examination.A 38-month-old female Golden retriever weighing 30 kg was presented to the Animal Medical Center, Nihon University, with dysuria and dyschezia. The dog had been treated successfully for vaginitis and cystic calculus at 3 months and 2 years of age, respectively. During estrus, 3 months prior to presentation, the owner noticed vulvar swelling (a normal estrous sign), but without proestrous bleeding.Physical examination revealed a normal bitch except for the cystic polyp in the vagina. Urinalysis revealed a pH 6, slight protein and occult blood, 20/hpf red blood cells and 8/ hpf white blood cells consisting mainly of neutrophils were observed in the urine sediment, and the urine specific gravity was 1.030. The size of the cystic polyp prevented full digital exploration of the cranial vagina, but no vulvar discharge was noted. Left lateral (Fig. 1-A) and ventrodorsal ( Fig. 1-B) radiographs of the abdomen revealed an extremely enlarged vagina (15 × 27 cm), initially diagnosed as the uterus, located above the urinary bladder and reaching to the posterior margin of the liver. On the ventrodorsal view, the cranial pole of the urinary bladder extended to the last rib, displaced toward the right side of the abdomen, with a very long proximal urethra. The vagina, which was thought to be a uterus simplex, displaced to the left side, occupied two-thirds of the abdom...

A Vaginal Cyst Causing Dysuria and Dyschezia in a Bitch

“…Clinical symptoms and findings, such as pain, dysuria and dyschezia, may develop in both vaginal obstruction and Gartner’s duct cysts due to physical urethral and/or intestinal compression [9, 10]. Imaging findings are also similar, both typically being detected as a mass-like opacity caudal to the bladder by radiographs, and a non-echogenic fluid-filled structure is detected by ultrasonography.…”

Congenital Aplasia of the Uterine-Vaginal Segment in Dogs

“…These morphological features are not exclusive for the segmental stenosis of the vagina. Imperforate hymen shares similar gross appearance (Tsumagari et al, 2001;Schlafer & Miller, 2007), except that the transverse partition is thinner in the later than in the segmental stenosis.…”

“…Recurrent cystitis was also found in such conditions (Kyles et al, 1996). Due to common symptoms, differential diagnosis between segmental stenosis of the vagina (Viehoff & Sjollema, 2003) and the imperforate hymen (Tsumagari et al, 2001) on the basis of the symptoms is difficult.…”

“…The animal may www.intechopen.com have been breed with success previous to the diagnosis, albeit the number of puppies in the litter is usually remarkably small comparing to the normal for the breed (Romagnoli & Schlafer, 2006;McIntyre et al, 2010). Sporadically, vulvar discharge, excessive vulvar licking and attraction of the male have been described (Kyles et al, 1996;Tsumagari et al, 2001). …”

Complete vaginal stenosis and hematocolpus in two bitches with a history of GnRH treatment to postpone puberty

“…The terms hydrocolpus, mucocolpus, hematocolpus, pyocolpus refer to the abnormal distension of the vagina for the accumulation of fluid, mucus, blood and pus, respectively. These conditions may be related to a difficult drainage of the vagina and the few reported cases in the bitch were generally secondary to developmental disorder of the vestibulo-vaginal tract (Gee et al, 1977;Wadsworth et al, 1978;Hawe and Loeb, 1984;Tsumagari et al, 2001;Viehoff and Sjollema, 2003;McIntyre et al, 2010;Marinho et al, 2013;Alonge et al, 2015).…”