Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ectopic liver found on heart in cat with feline infectious peritonitis
By Charles T. Talbot et al.·Published in Veterinary Record Case Reports·2025·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Incidental finding on postmortem examination of an epicardial ectopic liver in a cat with concurrent feline infectious peritonitis (Felis catus)
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 1-year-old male American domestic shorthair cat was brought to the vet after showing signs of lethargy and not eating for a week. Blood tests revealed anemia, and further testing suggested he had feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a serious viral disease. Unfortunately, his condition worsened rapidly, and the decision was made to humanely euthanize him. A postmortem examination revealed an unusual finding: a mass of liver tissue attached to the heart, which had no normal connection to the liver. This case highlights a rare occurrence of ectopic liver tissue in a cat with FIP.
People also search for: cat lethargy and not eating · feline infectious peritonitis symptoms · cat anemia treatment
Abstract
A 1‐year‐old, male, neutered, American domestic shorthair cat was presented for a 1‐week history of lethargy and anorexia. The presenting clinical signs and complete blood count were consistent with anaemia, requiring a packed red blood cell transfusion. Serum biochemical and virology antibody testing were consistent with a high clinical suspicion for feline infectious peritonitis. Due to the acute decline while in hospital over the following 12 hours, humane euthanasia was elected with postmortem examination. The abdominal and thoracic cavities contained serosanguinous fluid, and a mass with the gross appearance of ectopic hepatic tissue was adhered to the right ventricle within the pericardium. The mass confirmed to be hepatic on histopathology, adhered by strands of connective tissue and containing numerous portal triads, as well as central veins surrounding hepatocytes. This is the first case report to identify a solitary ectopic liver adhered to the epicardium with no anatomical connection to the liver.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/acf1b71d198c73c3ec8d5a427baf686db8dcb127