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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Cat with brain mass causing circling and head pressing

By Wills, Tamara B et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2009·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: What is your diagnosis? Intracranial mass in a cat.

Species:
cat

Plain-English summary

A 14-year-old female spayed cat was brought to the vet because she had been circling to the left and pressing her head intermittently for 3-4 months. An MRI showed a mass in her brain that was pushing on surrounding areas. The vet performed surgery to remove the mass, which was found to be a meningioma, a type of tumor. After the surgery, the cat's symptoms were likely addressed, but the specifics of her recovery weren't detailed.

People also search for: cat circling behavior · cat head pressing · meningioma treatment in cats · cat brain tumor symptoms · cat surgery recovery

Abstract

A 14-year-old female spayed cat was presented with a 3-4-month history of circling to the left and intermittent head pressing. Neurologic examination findings localized the lesion to the left supratentorial region. Using magnetic resonance imaging, an extra-axial mass was found on the dorsal aspect of the brain at the level of the frontal and parietal lobes, compressing and displacing the brain ventrally and caudally. Craniectomy was performed and the mass was submitted for cytologic and histopathologic evaluation. Impression smears revealed abundant cholesterol crystals and loose clusters of mildly pleomorphic spindle cells, compatible with a meningioma. The histopathologic diagnosis was meningioma with psammoma bodies and numerous cholesterol clefts. Abundant cholesterol crystals within meningiomas in cats may present a diagnostic challenge when nucleated cells are scant. Other differential diagnoses for abundant cholesterol crystals in an intracranial mass include cholesterol granulomas and keratinizing cysts.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19272086/