Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Severe bilaterally symmetrical alopecia in a horse.
- Journal:
- Veterinary pathology
- Year:
- 2011
- Authors:
- Kim, D Y et al.
- Affiliation:
- College of Veterinary Medicine · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse gelding was brought in because he had lost a lot of hair on his head, neck, shoulders, thighs, and upper legs, while the rest of his body, including his mane and tail, looked fine. The areas without hair didn’t seem inflamed, but there were some patches on his shoulder and back that had scales and crusts, and he was a bit itchy. Tests showed that there was inflammation in the hair follicles, and some yeast was found in the affected areas, which suggested a skin condition called Malassezia dermatitis. The final diagnosis was alopecia areata (a type of hair loss) along with the yeast infection. The treatment focused on both conditions, and it was determined that the alopecia areata might have contributed to the yeast infection.
Abstract
A 9-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse gelding was presented for diagnosis of the cause of extensive alopecia. Complete hair loss was noted over the head, neck, shoulder, thigh, and proximal limbs, but the trunk, distal limbs, pelvic area, mane, and tail were unaffected. The alopecic areas were visually noninflammatory with no exudate or crust except on the shoulder and along the back, where multifocal patchy areas of alopecia with scales and crust were evident. The horse was slightly pruritic. Microscopically, the hair bulbs, inner and outer root sheaths of inferior segments, and perifollicular regions were infiltrated by small to moderate numbers of small lymphocytes. Similar inflammation was occasionally evident in isthmus follicular walls as well as some apocrine glands. No sebaceous glands were affected. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that the small lymphocytes were CD3(+) T lymphocytes. The epidermis from the skin with scale and crusts along the horse's back exhibited mild to moderate hyperplasia, mild lymphocytic exocytosis, mild eosinophilic dermatitis, and diffuse parakeratosis with numerous budding yeasts, consistent with Malassezia spp. The final disease diagnosis was made as alopecia areata with Malassezia dermatitis. Alopecia areata could be a contributing underlying factor for Malassezia dermatitis.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21245283/