Abstract
ABSTRACT This report describes the first case of idiopathic seasonal alopecia in a horse in Brazil. The disease is of unknown etiology, characterized by alopecic processes in the thoracic and lateral abdominal regions, in a bilaterally symmetrical way. An eight-year-old male grade horse was treated presenting hair loss in a bilaterally symmetrical manner in the arm and abdomen areas, without any other associated clinical signs. The areas with alopecia showed no pruritus, inflammation or scaling. On the epidermis, the histological evaluation presented irregular hyperplasia, hyperpigmentation, compact orthokeratosis, edema and an inflammatory infiltrate. The hair follicles were active and containing hair shaft. The case was monitored with photographic records for two consecutive years (2012 to 2014), in which the hair fall occurred at the end of autumn with spontaneous hair growth in the middle of the summer. The diagnosis was based on the history, histopathology and photographic follow-up performed. Although mentioned in the literature, this is the first clinical and pathological description of such disorder affecting an equine in Brazil.
Highlights
Idiopathic seasonal alopecia (Knottenbelt, 2009), known as cyclic flank alopecia (Gomes et al, 2008) and recurrent flank alopecia (Bassett et al, 2005) is an uncommon dysplasia of unknown etiology
This study aims to describe the clinical and histopathological findings and provide a photographic follow-up of idiopathic seasonal alopecia in a half-breed horse
Due to the lack of information on equines regarding the disease of interest, a lot of forethought went into establishing the diagnosis, which was especially based upon the history of seasonality and patterns of hair growth and loss observed in the length of the clinical and photographical follow-ups
Summary
Idiopathic seasonal alopecia (Knottenbelt, 2009), known as cyclic flank alopecia (Gomes et al, 2008) and recurrent flank alopecia (Bassett et al, 2005) is an uncommon dysplasia of unknown etiology. The lateral thoracic and abdominal regions, mainly lateral folds of the flank, are the commonly affected areas (Gomes et al, 2008; Bassett et al, 2005). According to Muntener et al (2012) and Gomes et al (2008), affected dogs usually show symptoms in consecutive years, in which the damaged coat surface can display a more intense coloring than the rest, reduced shine and disorganized growth. Histopathological signs frequently found in affected areas include hair follicle atrophy associated to superficial hyperkeratosis and variable skin pigmentation with the hair sheath presenting a wavy appearance that is usually in the telogen phase (Scott, 1990). Histopathological findings are not determinant for the diagnosis (Knottenbelt, 2009)
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