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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Cat with kidney leiomyosarcoma and chronic kidney disease

By Evans, Dawn & Fowlkes, Natalie·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2016·Department of Pathobiological Sciences·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Renal leiomyosarcoma in a cat.

Species:
cat
Drinking & peeingCats

Plain-English summary

A 10-year-old Domestic Shorthair cat suddenly died after showing signs of confusion and dullness. The cat had a history of chronic kidney disease, and during the postmortem examination, the left kidney appeared swollen, which can happen with fluid buildup (hydronephrosis). However, further testing revealed a rare type of cancer called renal leiomyosarcoma in the kidney. This type of tumor is very uncommon in cats, and unfortunately, there were no successful treatments reported for this case.

People also search for: cat sudden death · cat kidney disease symptoms · renal cancer in cats · cat confusion and dullness · leiomyosarcoma in cats

Abstract

Renal leiomyosarcoma was diagnosed in a 10-year-old Domestic Shorthair cat with a 3-year history of clinically managed, chronic renal disease. Sudden death was preceded by a brief episode of mental dullness and confusion. At postmortem examination, the gross appearance of the left kidney was suggestive of hydronephrosis, and a nephrolith was present in the contralateral kidney. However, histology revealed an infiltrative, poorly differentiated, spindle cell sarcoma bordering the grossly cavitated area. Neoplastic cells were immunoreactive for vimentin and smooth muscle actin, which led to a diagnosis of renal leiomyosarcoma; neoplastic cells were not immunoreactive for desmin. Leiomyosarcoma arising in the kidney is a rare occurrence in humans and an even rarer occurrence in veterinary medicine with no prior cases being reported in cats in the English literature. The macroscopic appearance of the tumor at postmortem examination was misleadingly suggestive of hydronephrosis as a result of the large cavitation and may be similar to particularly unusual cases of renal leiomyosarcomas in humans that have a cystic or cavitated appearance.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26975352/