Abstract
Clinical and pathological findings in a case of malignant tumor located at nasal and paranasal sinuses in a six year old donkey is reported. The animal was referred to the Equine Veterinary Hospital after three years of progression. Clinically, the animal presented tachypnea, dyspnea and wheezing at the laryngotracheal region. At the frontal bone and at the left orbitary region there was swelling with exophtalmos of the left globe and bilateral mucopurulent nasal discharge, as well as retropharyngeal lymph node enlargement. Radiographic examination revealed radiopacity in the left maxilar, frontal and nasal sinuses and in the left orbitary region. Endoscopy revealed an irregular mass in the nasopharynx. Computed tomographic images of the skull showed an irregular mass, with variable density, in the rostral region extending from the nasal cavity to the conchofrontal sinus, at the left side, with dorsal displacement of the septum and dorsal nasal meatus. Loss of definition and destruction of other osseous structures of the nasal cavity and the frontal bone, and hypodense areas at the encephalic periphery were evident. Computed tomographic scans were taken to define the localization and extension of the mass. Fibrosarcoma was confirmed for the the first time in this species after histopathological examination. Tomographic scan was considered more effective than radiography.
Highlights
Tumors in the nasal and paranasal sinuses have rarely been reported in horses while in donkeys, to our knowledge, no case has been reported in the literature
In 1973, squamous cell carcinoma in the frontal sinus and nasal cavity was reported in two horses from southeastern Brazil (Alvarez et al, 1973)
In 2012, a case of sinus carcinoma was described in an equine in Minas Gerais (Silva et al, 2012)
Summary
Tumors in the nasal and paranasal sinuses have rarely been reported in horses while in donkeys, to our knowledge, no case has been reported in the literature. The occurrence of neoplasia shows no correlation with sex or race, but neoplastic processes occur more frequently in horses older than 10 years Cases such as leiomyosarcoma in a two-year-old equine and fibrosarcoma in a nine-year-old Appaloosa mare have been reported (Dixon & Head, 1999; Veraa et al, 2009). Facial asymmetry was observed, with increased volume in the left orbital region and frontal bone, causing exophthalmos of the ipsilateral eye, as well as bilateral mucopurulent nasal secretions (Figure 1). Radiographic examination of the skull showed a volume increase and radiopacity with variable density in the nasal cavity, and in the maxillary, frontal and left orbital sinuses (Figure 2). Histochemistry was performed using Masson’s Trichrome that marked the cytoplasm of neoplastic cells in blue (Figure 5D)
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