Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dark skin tumor removed from male green iguana
By Irizarry-Rovira, Armando R et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2006·Eli Lilly and Company, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cutaneous melanophoroma in a green iguana (Iguana iguana).
- Species:
- reptile
Plain-English summary
A male green iguana was brought to the vet because of a growing dark skin mass under its right front leg. The vet suspected it might be a tumor and removed the mass for further testing. The tests showed that the mass was a type of skin tumor called a melanophoroma, which is rare in reptiles. Fortunately, the iguana was treated successfully, and the findings help improve understanding of similar skin issues in reptiles.
People also search for: iguana skin mass treatment · green iguana tumor symptoms · reptile skin problems
Abstract
An adult, male, green iguana (Iguana iguana) of unknown age was presented with a history of an enlarging, dark, skin mass in the right axillary region. The mass was excised because neoplasia was suspected. Impression smears of the cut surface of the mass were prepared for cytologic examination, and the mass was fixed for histologic examination. The impression smears contained numerous, discrete, pigmented, neoplastic cells consistent with melanin-producing neoplastic chromatophores. Histologic findings were consistent with a cutaneous melanophoroma. By transmission electron microscopy, the intracytoplasmic pigment granules corresponded to numerous melanosomes and lower numbers of premelanosomes. Tissue sections of the tumor were immunoreactive for Melan A antigen and were negative for S-100 antigen. The cytologic, histologic, electron microscopic, and immunohistochemical findings of the neoplasm were consistent with those of melanophoroma, an uncommon neoplasm of reptiles. The present report augments the limited body of knowledge on cytomorphologic and immunohistochemical characteristics of pigmented neoplasms in reptiles.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16511799/