Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cytology of pituitary tumors in dogs - what to know
By Furtado, Adriana P et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2024·Veterinary Teaching Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cytologic features of canine melanotroph and corticotroph pituitary adenomas.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at 12 dogs that had surgery to remove pituitary tumors, specifically melanotroph adenomas (tumors from a type of cell in the pituitary gland) and corticotroph adenomas. The researchers found that the tumor cells had distinct features under a microscope, such as a lot of bare nuclei and cells that were round or polygonal, often found alone or in small groups. These cells had unique characteristics, including specific shapes and amounts of cytoplasm, which could help veterinarians identify these tumors during surgery. The findings suggest that using this method to examine the tumors while still in surgery could help doctors quickly tell them apart from other types of growths before getting final confirmation from lab tests. Overall, the study indicates that this approach could be a useful tool for diagnosing pituitary tumors in dogs.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The introduction of intraoperative cytology revolutionized neurosurgical procedures in human medicine, providing real-time diagnostic guidance to surgeons and contributing to improved patient outcomes. In the realm of veterinary medicine, the understanding of pituitary tumors in dogs and cats remains limited due to challenges in obtaining antemortem samples of central nervous system lesions. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the cytologic features of pituitary adenomas in 12 dogs that underwent hypophysectomy. METHODS: The series included nine melanotroph adenomas and three corticotroph adenomas. Definitive diagnosis was based on histopathology and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Cytologically, the adenomas had high numbers of bare nuclei and intact cells that were round to polygonal and situated individually or in small clusters. The intact cells had round to oval, eccentric nuclei with finely stippled chromatin and one to three prominent nucleoli and ample to abundant lightly basophilic to amphophilic, grainy cytoplasm with distinct borders, and variable numbers of discrete vacuoles. Mild-to-moderate anisocytosis and anisokaryosis, occasional binucleation, rare and atypical mitotic figures, and nuclear molding were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that intraoperative cytology of canine pituitary adenomas holds promise as a valuable diagnostic tool, aiding swift differentiation from other sellar masses before histologic confirmation. Cytologic characterization of pituitary adenomas in dogs is exceptionally rare in the scientific literature, making this study one of the first to offer a comprehensive description of these cytologic features.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38238980/