Benign mesenchymal hepatic tumors in camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Abstract

Benign tumors in liver are rare and appear not to have been previously reported in camel (Camelus dromedarius). This study describes histopathologic characteristics of lipoma, cavernous hemangioma and leiomyoma in the liver of dromedary camels. Seventy livers of dromedary camels which were slaughtered for human consumption were collected from July to November 2011 from the north east of Iran and they had macroscopic lesions and all of them were studied histopathologically. Microscopic examination revealed different metaplastic and neoplastic lesions in the liver of the camels. Lipoma (with multiple large vacuolated cells), cavernous hemangioma (with large lakes filled with oval erythrocytes) and leiomyoma (with homogenous intense eosinophilic spindle cells) were diagnosed as benign tumors. The relatively high occurrence of these mesenchymal neoplastic lesions may be due to some metabolic imbalances and some toxicosis in dromedary camels which live in the deserts. Also, metaplastic changes are the causes of lipoma. According to the literature, this is the first report of hepatic cavernous hemangioma and leiomyoma in camels (Camelus dromedarius).