Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with neck tumor causing unsteady walk diagnosed as chordoma
By Hampel, R et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2016·Department of Pathology and Pathogen Biology, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cervical Vertebral Body Chordoma in a Cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old female Maine Coon cat was brought in after showing signs of worsening coordination and balance problems for about six weeks. An MRI revealed a mass in her neck that was pressing on her spinal cord. Unfortunately, the decision was made to humanely euthanize her, and a post-mortem examination confirmed the mass was a chordoma, a type of tumor. This case highlights that chordomas can occur in cats and should be considered when diagnosing tumors in the neck area.
People also search for: cat ataxia causes · Maine Coon tumor symptoms · cervical spine tumor in cats
Abstract
A 9-year-old, neutered female Maine Coon cat with a 6-week history of progressive ataxia was diagnosed with a cervical vertebral body mass using magnetic resonance imaging. The mass displaced and compressed the cervical spinal cord. The cat was humanely destroyed and necropsy examination confirmed a mass within the second cervical vertebral body. Microscopically, the mass was composed of large, clear, vacuolated ('physaliferous') cells. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells expressed both cytokeratin and vimentin and the final diagnosis was a cervical, vertebral body chordoma. This is only the third report of a chordoma in this species and the first in this location. Chordoma should be considered as a potential differential diagnosis for tumours arising from the cervical vertebrae in the cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27156013/