Abstract
A 9-year-old apparently healthy male African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) was found dead in its enclosure at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre. Necropsy revealed a pericardium distended by approximately 250 ml of thick blood. A soft, red, lobulated mass was attached to the periaortic fat between the level of the aortic valves and the pericardial reflection. Histologically, the mass was consistent with a haemangiosarcoma. Other findings in the heart included mild to moderate ventricular hypertrophy and moderate, acute perivascular myocardial necrosis. Sudden death was attributed to acute heart failure precipitated by cardiac tamponade.
Highlights
Cardiac neoplasms are rare in domestic dogs, with reported incidences of between 0.12 %3 and 0.19 %7
Cardiac haemangiosarcomas may result in pericardial effusion, cardiac tamponade, arrhythmias and right heart failure due to decreased cardiac output[8]
A peripheral blood smear showed mild erythrocytic regenerative response. Death in this African wild dog was attributed to heart failure as a result of cardiac tamponade due to pericardial haemorrhage from the cardiac neoplasm
Summary
Section of Reproduction, Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa. Cardiac neoplasms are rare in domestic dogs, with reported incidences of between 0.12 %3 and 0.19 %7. The two most common primary cardiac tumours in dogs are haemangiosarcoma and aortic body tumours (chemodectomas, nonchromaffin paragangliomas)[2,7,8].
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