Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Metastatic myxosarcoma in a Quarter Horse gelding.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc
- Year:
- 2018
- Authors:
- Samuelson, Jonathan P et al.
- Affiliation:
- College of Veterinary Medicine · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 22-year-old Quarter Horse gelding was taken to the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital because he had a fast heart rate and showed mild signs of colic, which is stomach pain. A rectal exam found a large mass near his left kidney, and an ultrasound of his abdomen confirmed this. Further tests on his chest showed irregularities in the lungs, suggesting there were also masses there. Sadly, the horse was euthanized, and an autopsy revealed a large gelatinous mass surrounding both kidneys and smaller nodules in the lungs, liver, and other areas. The findings indicated that he had metastatic myxosarcoma, a rare type of cancer in horses that had spread to multiple organs.
Abstract
A 22-y-old Quarter Horse gelding was presented to the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital for evaluation of increased heart rate and mild colic signs. Rectal examination revealed a large left perirenal mass. Abdominal ultrasonography further confirmed this finding. Thoracic ultrasonography indicated multifocal irregularities on the pleural surface suggestive of consolidation and possibly masses in the lungs. The animal was euthanized. Autopsy findings included a large, firm, expansile, gelatinous retroperitoneal mass that surrounded both kidneys, as well as nodules with similar morphology in the lungs, liver, intestinal mesentery, cecum, and caudal mesenteric artery. Histologically, the masses were composed of neoplastic stellate-to-spindloid cells in abundant mucinous stroma. Neoplastic cells exhibited strong immunoreactivity for vimentin and were negative for pancytokeratin (A1/A3), CD3, CD20, melan A, and synaptophysin. Mucinous stroma was strongly positive with alcian blue and weakly positive with periodic acid-Schiff histochemical staining. These findings are consistent with metastatic myxosarcoma. Myxosarcoma is a rare neoplasm in horses, and metastasis to tissues other than sentinel lymph nodes has not been described previously to our knowledge.
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 →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28677418/