Cutaneous asthenia (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) in a Korean short-haired cat

Abstract

: A 1-year-old Korean domestic short-haired cat presented with skin hyperextensibility and a severely macerated wound on the skin of the dorsal part of the neck. Diagnostic studies including histopathology and skin extensibility index revealed congenital cutaneous asthenia (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). In this cat, the skin wounds and defects were successfully managed with standard wound management and cosmetic surgery. Although skin hyperextensibility is persistent, the cat has lived well without other complications to date. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of cutaneous asthenia in a cat in Korea.Keywords : cat, cutaneous asthenia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, joint laxity, skin hyperextensibility Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a type of inherited cutaneous asthenia, which is caused by collagen production [4]. Although EDS in cats has rarely been reported, inherited EDS has been described in the Himalayan breed, which is similar EDS VIIc in man and dermatosporaxis in calves and sheep [1,10]. Although the EDS is not fatal in cats, it often causes hanging folds of skin, extensive scarring, joint laxity, delayed wound healing with hematoma and hygroma formation [11]. Although the diagnosis is challenging, clinical signs and histopathologic studies of the collagen structure are important to identify this disease. This case study described a rare case of EDS in a Korean domestic short-haired cat.A 1-year-old castrated male Korean domestic short-haired cat weighing 4.2 kg, was presented with severe macerated wound on the skin of dorsal part of neck ( Fig. 1A and B). The cat had medical history of skin maceration by selfscratching and frequent grooming on the abdomen and hind limb. On the physical examination, the skin lesion was consisted of 8.5 × 5.5 cm skin defects by ulcerative wound on the dorsal part of neck ( Fig. 1A and B). The margin of defected skin was necrotized and ulcerative. Skin elasticity was markedly increased (hyperextensibility) on the lesion (Fig. 1). Skin in other body part was also thin and was hyperextensible and fragile ( Fig. 2C and D). Complete blood cell count revealed no particular abnormalities except moderate polycythemia (red blood cell 10.45 M/µL; reference range, 5.5-8.5 M/uL; hematocrit 57.3%; reference range, 37-55%). Serum biochemistry found no particular abnormalities except increased glucose (151 mg/dL; reference range, 60-120 mg/ dL) and decreased albumin (2.7 g/dL; reference range, 3.1-4.1 g/dL).Emergency surgery for covering skin defects of the neck was performed ( Fig. 2A and B). After removal of necrotized wound margin, the skin defected area was covered by extending skin nearby with anchored suture ( Fig. 2A and B). After installing wound drainage, bacterial culture with antibi-*Corresponding author Tel: +82-33-250-8681, Fax: +82-33-244-2367 E-mail: hyun5188@kangwon.ac.kr Fig. 1. Skin lesion of this case. (A and B) The skin lesion was consisted of 8.5 × 5.5 cm skin defects by ulcerative wound on the dorsal part of neck. The margin of defected skin was...

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome with Classical Subtype in a Cat

“…In this case, we confirmed that EDS can occur in mixed breed Korean shorthair cat. An EDS case in a domestic Korean shorthair cat was first reported in 2016 (7). The cat in this case also belongs to a Korean shorthair mixed breed, and this is the second report of EDS in a Korean shorthair cat.…”

Asthenia Cutanea in Albino Burmese Python (Python Molurus Bivittatus): Report of a Case in Mexico

“…The clinical findings observed in this case, such as hyperextensibility, skin fragility and age of onset, were suggestive of cutaneous asthenia. Cutaneous asthenia is a rare genetic abnormality of the dermal connective tissue, mainly affecting young animals (Seo et al, 2016), and although it was first described in dogs in 1947, comprehensive studies on the disease have not been conducted in various species (Halper, 2013). Affected animals usually show open wounds, with little or no bleeding, resulting from minor trauma and multiple atrophic scars mainly involving the back and head (Hansen et al, 2015;Seo et al, 2016).…”

“…Cutaneous asthenia is a rare genetic abnormality of the dermal connective tissue, mainly affecting young animals (Seo et al, 2016), and although it was first described in dogs in 1947, comprehensive studies on the disease have not been conducted in various species (Halper, 2013). Affected animals usually show open wounds, with little or no bleeding, resulting from minor trauma and multiple atrophic scars mainly involving the back and head (Hansen et al, 2015;Seo et al, 2016). The reported Burmese python also evidenced a non-bleeding linear wound in the cranial area, probably associated with self-trauma.…”

Dermatosparaxia em um ovino: achados clínicos, anatomopatológicos e moleculares

“…A dermatosparaxia tem sido relatada em ovinos [12,[17][18][19], bovinos [9], búfalos [10], equinos [4,8,21], cães [5,14] e gatos [1,7,16].…”

“…Sinais clínicos e estudos histopatológicos da estrutura do colágeno são importantes para identificar esta doença [16], porém os estudos moleculares permitem confirmar o diagnóstico da doença [2].…”