Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with shoulder lump and limping - diagnosis explained
By Boes, Katie et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2009·Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: What is your diagnosis? Shoulder mass in a dog with lameness.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A Golden Retriever was brought in because he was losing weight and limping on his left front leg. The vet found a solid mass on his shoulder and discovered other concerning signs like liver enlargement and multiple masses in his abdomen. Tests showed that the mass was likely a type of cancer called pheochromocytoma, which had spread to other parts of his body, including his bones. Unfortunately, due to the severity of his condition, the dog was euthanized.
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Abstract
An adult castrated male Golden Retriever of unknown age was presented with a history of weight loss and progressive left thoracic limb lameness. On physical examination, a solid mass was palpated on the left scapula that had areas of lysis on radiographs and an area of cortical bone loss on ultrasound. Hepatomegaly, abdominal distension, and numerous intra-abdominal soft tissue masses were also found. Fine-needle aspirates of the scapula and several abdominal masses contained numerous free nuclei mixed with fewer individualized, intact cells that were round in shape and rarely formed small sheets. The cells had high nuclear to cytoplasmic ratios, central nuclei, coarsely stippled chromatin, 1-2 prominent nucleoli, and basophilic cytoplasm with indistinct cell borders. The cytopathologic interpretation was neuroendocrine neoplasia, either metastatic or multicentric. The dog was subsequently euthanized and based on gross and histologic findings at necropsy, a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma with multiple metastases was made. The neoplastic cells stained positive with Grimelius stain and were immunoreactive for synaptophysin and chromogranin A. Pheochromocytomas are rare tumors in dogs and uncommonly undergo distant metastasis, especially to bone.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19490568/