Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ichthyosis fetalis causing severe skin scaling in a cross-bred lamb
By Câmara, Antonio Carlos Lopes et al.Ā·Published in Veterinary dermatologyĀ·2017Ā·Large Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital, BrazilĀ·View original on PubMed ā
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research ā every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work ā
Original publication title: Ichthyosis fetalis in a cross-bred lamb.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A male cross-bred lamb was brought in showing signs of severe skin problems, including thickened and scaling skin, fever, and difficulty moving due to painful lesions on his limbs. Over 75 days, his condition worsened, leading to deep cracks in his skin and obstruction of his nostrils. Unfortunately, despite monitoring and care, the lamb did not recover and had significant skin damage at the time of death. This case highlights the need for veterinarians to recognize ichthyosis fetalis, a rare skin disease in lambs, as a potential diagnosis for similar symptoms.
People also search for: lamb skin problems Ā· ichthyosis in sheep Ā· treatment for lamb skin disease
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Ichthyosis is a dermatological disease characterized by varying degrees of generalized hyperkeratosis and alopecia. Two congenital forms of ichthyosis are recognized in animals: fetalis (IF) and congenita. The disease occurs rarely in cattle, swine, dogs, chickens and a goat; it has not been reported in sheep. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To provide clinical, laboratory and pathological assessments of a case of IF in a cross-bred lamb. ANIMALS: A male cross-bred lamb. RESULTS: Physical examination revealed apathy, fever, ectropion and eclabium. Generalized thickening and scaling of the skin was noted; this was most severe on the face, ears, inner thighs, limbs and perineum. Deep fissures and wounds were present on the hind limbs and forelimbs. The lamb was monitored for 75 days. During this period, lesions progressed and occasionally obstructed the nostrils and increasingly made it difficult for the lamb to flex major limb joints. Postmortem findings included severe epidermal thickening, multiple subcutaneous abscesses, ectropion and corneal scars. Histological findings revealed diffuse orthokeratotic hyperkeratosis, follicular keratosis, irregular epidermal hyperplasia and atrophy of the sebaceous glands. Serum vitamin A concentration was within the normal range for the species. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: This case report describes a case of presumptive ichthyosis fetalis in a lamb. Greater awareness by practitioners is required for this disease to be included in the differential diagnosis of dermatopathies in this species.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28585294/