Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horse with recurrent colic diagnosed with liver cancer
By Barrantes Murillo, Daniel Felipe et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2024·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intrahepatic mucinous cholangiocarcinoma with recurrent colic in a horse case report and literature review of cholangiocarcinoma in horses.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 17-year-old Arabian mare was brought to the vet with a long history of mild, recurring colic (abdominal pain) that would improve with treatment. Blood tests showed some abnormalities, and a procedure to analyze her abdominal fluid indicated a low-protein issue. Unfortunately, her symptoms worsened over time, leading the owner to make the difficult decision to euthanize her. A postmortem examination revealed she had a rare type of bile duct cancer called mucinous cholangiocarcinoma. This type of cancer is uncommon in horses and often presents with vague symptoms like colic.
People also search for: horse colic treatment · recurrent colic in horses · horse cancer symptoms · cholangiocarcinoma in horses
Abstract
A 17-y-old Arabian mare was presented to the Auburn Large Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital with a long-term history of intermittent mild recurrent colic that responded to medical treatment. CBC revealed mild lymphopenia; serum biochemistry findings were of increased gamma-glutamyl transferase and creatine kinase activities, hyperferremia, hyperglycemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypokalemia. Abdominocentesis was compatible with low-protein transudate. Due to the progression and duration of clinical signs, the owner elected euthanasia. Postmortem examination and histopathology confirmed a cholangiocarcinoma. The neoplastic cells were arranged in large cysts containing lakes of mucin that comprised 90% of the tumor volume; thus, a mucinous variant was determined. The neoplastic cells had strong cytoplasmic immunolabeling for cytokeratin 19 and lacked immunolabeling for hepatocyte paraffin 1, supporting bile duct origin. Cholangiocarcinomas are infrequent tumors in horses with nonspecific and slow progressive clinical signs, including recurrent colic. Mucinous cholangiocarcinomas are seldom reported in veterinary medicine and, to our knowledge, have not been reported previously in horses.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38641993/