Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with spinal cryptococcoma causing paralysis and death
By Belluco, S et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2008·Unité, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Spinal cryptococcoma in an immunocompetent cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An 11-year-old cat was brought in for progressive paralysis, which means it was having trouble moving and getting around. Despite being tested for several common viruses and infections, the cause of the paralysis remained unclear. Unfortunately, the cat passed away two months later, and a post-mortem examination revealed a significant infection in the spinal cord caused by a type of yeast called Cryptococcus neoformans. This case highlights how serious infections can occur even in otherwise healthy cats, especially in environments with many pigeons.
People also search for: cat paralysis causes · cryptococcosis in cats · cat spinal cord infection treatment
Abstract
This report describes an unusual case of primary cryptococcoma in the proximal thoracic spinal cord of an 11-year-old immunocompetent cat from a farm on which there were large numbers of pigeons. This animal was referred for examination with progressive paralysis and shown to be free from feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukaemia virus, feline coronavirus and Toxoplasma gondii. It died 2 months later. At necropsy, the only lesion detected was a malacic area, 4cm in length, in the spinal cord. Histopathological examination of the spinal cord revealed severe granulomatous inflammation associated with large numbers of encapsulated yeast cells. In addition to the granulomatous host response, necrosis, digestion chambers, Gitter cells, spheroids and lymphocytic perivascular cuffs were features of the malacic areas. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii yeast cells.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18783789/