Abstract
Fetal anasarca is a congenital condition defined by excessive fluid accumulation throughout the body and subcutaneous edema. A 9-month-old Pekingese bitch with dystocia was presented to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Ankara University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Three stillborn puppies were removed by caesarian section and sent to the Pathology Department of Ankara University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for necropsy. Grossly, two of the puppies were larger than normal, had diffuse subcutaneous swelling with visceral effusion and were diagnosed with fetal anasarca. As for the third one, pulmonary hypoplasia was reported. All the fetuses additionally showed palatoschisis, bird tongue and lissencephaly. For histopathological examination, samples from the organs were collected and routinely processed. Severe edematous and degenerative changes were noted in the skin, liver, heart and kidneys of the anasarcous fetuses. Extramedullary hematopoiesis was also observed to different degrees in the livers and the spleens of all fetuses. The current case represents the first histopathologically described case of canine fetal anasarca in Turkey and it highlights the predisposition of brachycephalic dogs to fetal anasarca which is referred to be heritable as a recessive trait.
Highlights
ÖZET: Fötal anasarka, vücutta aşırı sıvı birikimi ve subkutan ödem ile tanımlanan konjenital bir bozukluktur
This report provides a pathomorphological description of canine fetal anasarca associated with various congenital abnormalities that appeared within the same litter of a Pekingese dog
Fetal anasarca is a congenital abnormality resulting from factors that lead to failure in the homeostasis of fetal fluid
Summary
“Fetal anasarca” known as “hydrops fetalis”, “congenital edema” and “walrus syndrome” is a condition characterized by massive generalized subcutaneous edema with or without fluid accumulation in body cavities. Affected puppies are typically bigger in size which causes dystocia and neonatal mortality is very high [5, 6]. Multiple puppies within the litter or even the whole litter may be affected. Fetal anasarca has been commonly described in bovine and ovine species with less reports in small animals [4, 5, 6, 7]. This report provides a pathomorphological description of canine fetal anasarca associated with various congenital abnormalities that appeared within the same litter of a Pekingese dog.
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