Greetings friends of the steemstem community today I would like to present myself with a practical work which is a very beautiful area of veterinary medicine and I would like to share with you and thus strengthen our knowledge mutually.
A half blood’s dog corpse, 8 years old, male and 17.63Lb weight is received. Which manifested in life anorexia, depression, lethargy, dyspnea, vomiting, sialorrhea, ataxia and involuntary muscle contractions. We performed the animal’s necropsy to find the death’s cause, using Masse’s technique, that consists to remove the entrails on a single block and then separate the organs by system and carry out his respective individual evaluation.
During the external’s inspection, the presence of tartar was observed in all the teeth, also a moderate quantity of blackish, pasty consistency and foul odor cerumen at the left atrial orifice; while at both nostrils level the presence of a bloody exudate was noted.
However, the most important finding was observed at the bearings or plantar pads, which looked very dry, cracked, thickened and with an overgrowth or hyperkeratosis, highlighting at the plantar pad’s level on left hind limb. The presence of a deep ulcer about 0.90inch with multiple fly larvae (Cochliomyia hominivorax) were found, accompanied by a foul smelling bloody exudate (myiasis). Likewise, the presence of some ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) distributed throughout the animal was also noted.
Once the external inspection was carried out, the primary incision was made, which consists of making a cut in the ventral region, from the mandibular symphysis to the pubic symphysis, cutting only the skin (Figure 7), this with the purpose to evaluate the integrity of the subcutaneous and muscular’s tissue, without finding any novelty. Then the secondary incision was made, following the same primary incision line, but this time cutting soft tissues, muscles and bones in order to open the thoracic and abdominal cavities (Figure 8), evaluating in this way the organs in situ and also determining if there is a collection of some exudate, to later carry out the removal of entrails on a single block and then carry out the detailed study by systems:
At the level of the respiratory system, the presence of a large amount of foamy serous bloody exudate was observed, which was extended from the lower bronchi to the trachea (pulmonary edema). Likewise, the lungs were observed swollen, with intense red color, severely congestive, with rounded edges, and the presence of the exudate previously described, at the cut, also highlighting irregular areas of pulmonary consolidation of a pinkish gray color with foci red blackish, distributed throughout the apical lobe and right intermediate, and at the level of the external border and the ventral part of the right and left diaphragmatic lobes, these findings correspond to a focally extensive pneumonia.
At the digestive level, the stomach was without food content, only brownish catarrhal secretion was observed in its interior, while the gastric mucosa showed slightly thickened, with prominent folds and a brownish green color, this is an anorexia’s consequence that the animal showed. Likewise, at colon’s level, the presence of multiple ecchymosis hemorrhages, distributed in a portion of the mucosa, was observed, while at the level of the rectum a marked red colored relief was observed, which corresponds to hyperplasia’s processes. of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), common in local inflammatory conditions.
For its part, the liver was enlarged, swollen, moderately congestive, with rounded and dentate edges, of wine color with mottled that was seen paler, accompanied by a bloody exudate at cut, findings compatible with congestion and multifocal hepatic necrosis.
At the lymphohematopoietic’s system level, the spleen was also shown to be enlarged, swollen, moderately congestive, with rounded edges, accompanied by a bloody exudate at cut and a wine color with a whitish mott that was distributed throughout the parenchyma of the organ. which are compatible with congestion and splenic multifocal necrosis.
At the renal’s system level, only a very dilated urinary bladder with abundant urine was seen, without confirming any other alteration.
At the nervous system level, the brain was observed congestive, red and hemorrhagic, with tortuous and prominent superficial blood vessels, findings that correspond to meningoencephalitis.
Once the different macroscopic morphological and structural changes present in the corpse were observed, the conclusion about the cause of death: Canine distemper, a viral disease that is characterized by affecting the respiratory, digestive and nervous systems, causing pneumonia, eye and / or nasal discharge, vomiting, diarrhea, meningoencephalitis, seizures, ataxia, involuntary muscle contractions and a process of hyperkeratosis of the plantar pads, a very characteristic lesion of this disease.
It is my first publication and I would like to be able to help me with your comments by telling me that I could improve for my next publications.
References:
Canine distemper
Meningoencephalitis
Hyperkeratosis Plantar in Dogs