Persistent Truncus Arteriosus in a Diprosopic Newborn Calf

Abstract

Summary A newborn diprosopic female calf had a partially duplicated head with two faces each exhibiting a mouth, a snout, an anomalous incomplete mandible, two eyes and a lateral ear. A single ear with two small auditory canals was present on the midline between the two medial eyes. A type 1 persistent truncus arteriosus and hypoplasia of the thoracic portion of thymus were the most outstanding extracranial defects. In the heart, a persistent foramen secundum and a large patent foramen ovale allowed communication between the right and left atria. In the right ventricle, the small conus arteriosus was separated in part from the inflow tract by an anomalous 'septomarginal muscular septum'. An interventricular septal defect was also present. A large undivided truncus arteriosus, exhibiting a tricuspid truncal valve at its origin, arose for the most part from the conus arteriosus of the right ventricle. The truncus gave rise to the brachiocephalic trunk, the aortic arch, a small pulmonary trunk, from which the left and right pulmonary arteries emerged, and two coronary arteries. The etiology and pathogenetic mechanisms implicated in the appearance of persistent truncus arteriosus are reviewed. It is suggested that a deficit or insufficiency in the cranial neural crest may play a role in the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to the production of persistent truncus arteriosus and related defects in cephalic duplications.

Persistent truncus arteriosus and patent foramen ovale in a Simmentaler x Braunvieh calf

“…Truncus arteriosus is one of the least common congenital heart defects in human beings, with a prevalence of 0.004 to 0.009 per cent of live births accounting for 1.1 to 2.5 per cent of all types of congenital heart disease (Mair and others 2001). Persistent truncus arteriosus has been diagnosed postmortem in seven cattle (Zschokke 1900, Kemler and Martin 1972, Heath and Kukreti 1979, Sandusky and Smith 1981, West 1988, Camon and others 1995, Reppas and others 1996), and four cases with similar anomalies have been mentioned by Heath and Kukreti (1979).…”

“…Persistent truncus arteriosus has been diagnosed postmortem in calves (Zschokke 1900, Kemler and Martin 1972, Heath and Kukreti 1979, Sandusky and Smith 1981, West 1988, Camon and others 1995, Reppas and others 1996), horses (Rooney and Franks 1964, Daniels 1974, Greene and others 1975, Rang and Hurtienne 1976), cats (Buergelt and Suter 1968, van de Linde‐Sipman and others 1973), dogs (Chen and others 1972, van Mierop and others 1978), piglets (van de Linde‐Sipman and Wensing 1972), and a lamb (Milstein and others 1982). To the authors' knowledge, the condition has been diagnosed antemortem only in horses (Sojka 1987, Steyn and others 1989, Tschudi and others 1997, Stephen and Abott 2000).…”

Persistent truncus arteriosus in two Standardbred foals

“…The estimated incidence of persistent truncus arteriosus (PTA) is variable among species, but it is extremely rare in all species in which it has been reported. In large animals, PTA has been reported in horses, cows, sheep and pigs (Heath and Kukreti 1979;Sandusky and Smith 1981;Hsu and Du 1982;Milstein et al 1982;Steyn et al 1989, Camon et al 1995, Stephen et al 2000. In a study of 15,224 necropsies of foals and horses, the incidence of all congenital cardiac malformations was estimated to be 0.14% (Crowe and Swerczek 1985).…”

Congenital Deformities in the Sudan 4. Wry Face in a Cross-Bred Bovine Calf

“…Many types of congenital craniofacial deformities in domestic animals had been described in the literature. aprosopia (Dennis and Leipold, 1972), diprosopia (Camon, et al 1995;Kim, et al 2000;Bahr et al 2004;Osman Hind et al 2004;Osman Hind and Khaleel, 2004;Osman Hind, 2010) dicephalus (Gruys, 1973;Gawlikowski and Misinakewics, 1979;Mcgirr et al 1987) Cyclopia (Gawlikowski, 1993;Hirooka and Hamana, 1999;Schulze and Distl, 2006).) agnathia (Dennis and Leipold, 1972) and wry face (LaRue, 1997) which is the least to be reported.…”