Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Kitten with urinary bladder inflammation causing painful urination
By Bayley, C et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2008·Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Malakoplakia in the urinary bladder of a kitten.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 8-week-old kitten was brought to the vet with difficulty urinating (dysuria) for three weeks. After examination, the vet found that the kitten had a rare condition called malakoplakia, which caused inflammation in the bladder. Unfortunately, the kitten did not survive, and a post-mortem revealed a swollen bladder with unusual nodules on the surface. This condition is very rare in animals and is characterized by specific cells and inclusion bodies that are typically seen in humans.
People also search for: kitten difficulty urinating · malakoplakia in cats · urinary bladder problems in kittens
Abstract
Malakoplakia is a form of chronic granulomatous inflammation that in humans most commonly affects the urinary bladder of middle-aged women. Naturally occurring malakoplakia is rare in animals, having been described twice in the pig only. An 8-week-old kitten was diagnosed with malakoplakia of the urinary bladder after a 3-week history of dysuria. Post-mortem examination revealed a markedly enlarged bladder with a diffusely nodular mucosal surface. Microscopically, there was diffuse submucosal infiltration by histiocytes stained positively by periodic acid Schiff (PAS) and described in the human condition as "von Hansemann cells". Intracellular and extracellular "Michaelis-Gutman" inclusion bodies were seen on light and electron microscopical examination. These structures are considered pathognomonic for malakoplakia. The pathogenesis of malakoplakia is enigmatic. Defective function of phagolysosomes is currently suspected to underlie the abnormal accumulation of submucosal histiocytes; however the primary functional defect remains unknown.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18440547/