Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with breathing and swallowing trouble diagnosed with laryngeal
By Dunbar, Mark D et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2012·Department of Physiological Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Laryngeal rhabdomyoma in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old female spayed Australian Shepherd was brought to the vet because she had been experiencing noisy breathing, trouble swallowing, and a change in her bark for about three months. X-rays and CT scans showed a small mass in her larynx, which was further examined through a fine-needle aspirate. The tests confirmed that the mass was a rhabdomyoma, a rare type of tumor in the larynx. While the specific treatment wasn't detailed, identifying the tumor is a crucial step for planning further care.
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Abstract
A 3-year-old, female spayed Australian Shepherd dog was presented to Veterinary Healthcare Associates in Winter Haven, FL with a history of respiratory stridor, difficulty swallowing, and a change in bark for approximately 3 months. Radiographs revealed a soft tissue mass caudal to the epiglottis. Oral and computerized tomographic (CT) examinations were performed under general anesthesia and revealed a small firm mass in the caudal larynx on the right side. Cytologic evaluation of a fine-needle aspirate of the mass revealed cells consistent with a rhabdomyoma, oncocytoma, or granular cell tumor. Histopathologic interpretation was rhabdomyoma or oncocytoma. Histochemical staining with periodic acid-Schiff was mostly negative with a low number of weakly positive cells and with phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin was strongly positive with visible cross striations. Tumor cells did not express pancytokeratin AE1/AE3, were strongly immunoreactive for myoglobin and muscle-specific actin, and did not express vimentin except for a low number of weakly immunoreactive cells. These findings confirmed a diagnosis of rhabdomyoma. Primary neoplasia of the larynx is rare, and widely varying types of neoplasms have been documented in this location. Due to the cytologic and histologic similarities between rhabdomyoma, oncocytoma, and granular cell tumor, these neoplasms should be differentiated using histochemical staining and immunohistochemical analysis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23095163/