Fibrodysplasia ossificans in a German shepherd dog

Abstract

Bilateral cervical heterotopic ossification, associated with a thoracic limb lameness, occurred in an adult German shepherd dog. One of the lesions, thought to be the cause of the lameness, was surgically removed and the lameness resolved. The lesion was classified morphologically as fibrodysplasia ossificans. A similar, smaller lesion was present over the cranial distal scapular border. The causes of ectopic ossification, as described in the veterinary literature, are reviewed and compared with myositis ossificans in humans. Non-progressive fibrodysplasia ossificans has been described in cats, but this appears to be the first report in the dog. It is postulated that the heterotopic ossification resulted from the metaplastic change of calcinosis circumscripta lesions.

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva-like Condition in a Cat

“…On the other hand, limited information is available on FOP-like condition in the field of veterinary medicine because there are very few published reports on naturally occurring heterotopic ossification in animals [2,[5][6][7][8][11][12][13][14]. Thus far, only 6 cases of cats with FOP-like condition have been reported, and these were limited to the United States [12][13][14] and Canada [7].…”

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva-like in a cat

“…Laboratory exams did not reveal leukocytosis or increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity, as seen in a feline case reported by Yabuzoe et al (2009), nor alterations in serum concentration of calcium and phosphorus which could indicate metabolic disorders and metastatic mineralization (Guilliard, 2001). The only relevant finding was an increase in serum creatine kinase activity, which corroborates other reports (Asano et al, 2006).…”

“…Differently from the cases of canines with FOPlike conditions (Guilliard, 2001), the disease has not been observed in older cats: the average age in the reports was 2.6 years (ranging from 10 months to 6 years) (Warren and Carpter, 1984;Asano et al, 2006;Yabuzoe et al, 2009). …”

“…Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), also known as myositis ossificans progressiva or Münchmeyer's disease (Campos et al, 2005), is a rare disease in humans (Palhares and Leme, 2001) and animals (Guilliard, 2001;Kaplan et al, 2005;Asano et al, 2006).…”

“…Information about fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva-like (FOP-like) in veterinary medicine is limited due to the small number of reports regarding the natural occurrence of ectopic ossification in animals (Guilliard, 2001;Kaplan et al, 2005;Asano et al, 2006). Based on the literature consulted, it was assumed that only eight cases of FOP-like conditions have been described in cats all over the world (Asano et al, 2006;Yabuzoe et al, 2009) …”