Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horse found to have multiple pancreatic tumors - what does it mean?
By Herbach, N et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2014·Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Multiple glucagon-producing pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in a horse (Equus caballus).
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In a rare case, a horse was found to have multiple tumors in its pancreas that produced a hormone called glucagon. Unfortunately, the horse had to be put to sleep due to a serious infection that developed after a tooth extraction. During the examination after the horse passed away, veterinarians discovered several white nodules in the pancreas, which were identified as tumors. These tumors were confirmed to be neuroendocrine tumors, which are unusual in horses. The findings also showed changes in the horse's adrenal gland, but the main concern was the pancreatic tumors.
Abstract
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors of glucagon-producing cells are extremely rare in domestic animals. In this report, we describe for the first time, to our knowledge, the incidental finding of multiple glucagon-producing neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas of a horse. The animal was euthanized due to severe local infection after tooth extraction. On postmortem examination, multiple white nodules of up to 4 cm in diameter were observed in the pancreas. Histologically, pancreatic nodules had the appearance of neuroendocrine neoplasms with positive immunoreactivity for glucagon, synaptophysin, chromogranin A, and neuron-specific enolase. Electron microscopy revealed numerous electron-dense granules, similar to those observed in normal pancreatic alpha cells, in the neoplastic cells. In addition, the left adrenal gland showed multiple hyperplastic foci and adenomas in the medulla that were identified as pheochromocytomas. Based on the morphologic appearance and immunohistochemical staining pattern of pancreatic nodules, a diagnosis of multiple glucagon-producing neuroendocrine tumors was made.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23774746/