Intestinal Lymphoma in a Halla Horse

Abstract

A 21-year-old female Halla Horse weighing 248 kg was referred to the Jeju National University Equine Hospital with the chief complaint of anorexia accompanied by general weakness and depression for the previous three days suspected to be related to colic. Extensive diagnostic tests were performed for the following six days, including complete blood count (CBC), serum chemistry, gastroscopy, x-rays, and ultrasound imaging. The signalment, history, symptoms, and test results strongly suggested a chronic intestinal inflammatory disease with or without an alimentary tumor; hence, an exploratory laparotomy was performed. Almost the entire small intestine wall was severely thickened with diffuse ecchymosis on the serosa and protruded nodules on the mucosa. A presumptive diagnosis of an intestinal tumor was made, and the patient was euthanized, considering the patient's welfare with poor prognosis and low expectancy. A massive part of the small intestine was collected and submitted for macroscopic and microscopic pathology evaluations. The pathologic examination, including immunohistochemistry (IHC), indicated equine intestinal lymphoma showing strong positivity for T cell marker. This report describes the clinical signs, diagnosis and pathological features of intestinal lymphoma in a Halla Horse in detail.