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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Equine placental teratoma.

Journal:
Veterinary pathology
Year:
2003
Authors:
Gurfield, N & Benirschke, K
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture · United States
Species:
horse

Plain-English summary

A female Arabian horse fetus, about 300 days into its pregnancy, had its placenta examined after some concerns. The examination found several smooth, white nodules on the placenta, which were between half an inch and four inches wide and covered about half of the placenta's surface. When looked at under a microscope, these nodules showed a mix of immature cells and various tissue types, but they lacked the organized structure typically seen in healthy tissue. This condition is known as a placental teratoma, which is very rare and has not been reported in animals before.

Abstract

The placenta from a 300-day-gestational age, female, Arabian equine fetus was examined. Multifocal to coalescing, 0.5- to 4-cm-diameter, white, smooth nodules covered 50% of the placenta. Microscopic evaluation of the nodules revealed undifferentiated germ cells and a haphazard arrangement of immature, mesenchymal stroma, cartilage, squamous cornifying epithelium, scattered ducts and secretory acini lined by cuboidal to columnar epithelium, and mineralized foci. No umbilicus, arrangement about an axial skeleton, or organized polarity of structures was present. The lesion was diagnosed as a placental teratoma, a lesion not reported in species other than man.

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Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12949420/