Clinico-pathological and immunohistochemical findings in a case of bovine cutaneous angiomatosis in a Holstein heifer

Abstract

Bovine cutaneous angiomatosis (BCA) is a rare condition characterized by vasoproliferative skin lesions mainly affecting cattle in the northern hemisphere. An eight-month-old Holstein heifer showed two skin easy-bleeding nodules bulging from the epidermis in the forehead and close to the right prescapular region. Skin lesions were within the dermis and had an irregular surface and a soft heterogeneous reddish parenchyma composed of numerous variable-sized arterioles, veins, and capillaries surrounded by abundant collagenous fibrous tissue. Immunohistochemical assays evidenced endothelial cells lining proliferative vascular structure immunolabeled for CD31 and Von Willebrand factor, and vascular smooth muscle cells immunostained for smooth muscle actin. All clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical features observed in the Holstein heifer were hallmarks of BCA. Considering its potential for hereditary spread, BCA must be included in the differential diagnosis of easily bleeding skin nodules that do not respond to routine topical wound treatments to prevent its spread in Brazilian herds.