Sarcoide em equinos - tratamento com associação de Aciclovir e excisão cirúrgica / Equine sarcoids - treatment with a combination of Acyclovir and surgical excision

Background: Sarcoids are the most frequent skin tumors among horses, causing serious lesions due to their different shapes, sizes, degree of invasiveness and distribution on the body. The pathogenesis of sarcoids is multifactorial, with genetic, viral and environmental involvement, making their treatment complex. The aggressiveness and high rate of recurrence of sarcoids makes it difficult to use an effective treatment, which is why there are several therapeutic routes described in the literature. Aiming to describe and expand sarcoid treatments, this paper reports on the use of acyclovir in the treatment of this type of tumor. Cases: Four horses sent to the Large Animal Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Lavras - UFLA were diagnosed and treated for sarcoids. Case 1. Lesions on the right ear, region of the masseter muscle of the right side of the face, neck, vulva and medial aspect of the left pelvic limb. Case 2. Lesion in the left groin region. Case 3. Lesions on the face, masseter muscle region on the left side, mandibular region and right ear pinna. Case 4. Lesion in the lateral region of the left pelvic limb, close to the tarsometatarsal joint. All horses had a diagnosis of sarcoid, which was confirmed by histopathological examination of material collected after surgical excision. Macroscopically, the neoplastic lesions were classified as fibroblastic, verrucous and nodular. The tumors exhibited irregular surfaces, keratinization, and a firm consistency. Their surfaces were alopecic, slightly rough, some of them were ulcerated, and their color ranged from greyish to rosy and reddish. All the tumor masses were surgically excised from the 4 horses, and one sarcoid was treated by thermal cauterization with liquid nitrogen due to the lesion's depth and size. In most cases, the sarcoid removal sites were closed with sutures. Only 2 lesions were not sutured due to the impossibility of bringing the edges of tissue close together, or due to proximity to the tarsometatarsal joint. The surgical wounds were cleaned twice a day with sterile saline solution followed by the topical application of Acyclovir. One of the animals received complementary therapy with Cimetidine. Discussion: The equines recovered completely from their sarcoid treatment, and no recurrences were reported a year later. Thus, the combination of treatments employed for the extirpation of sarcoids proved to have greater chances of success. First, all the tumors were surgically removed with the largest possible margins of safety in order to ensure the elimination of neoplastic cells. In the postoperative period, all the animals received topical treatment of the lesions with acyclovir after surgical resection of the tumors. The drug aided the complete healing of post-surgical wounds, and healing time varied according to the size and depth of the lesion. One tumor was treated with liquid nitrogen after surgical excision of the sarcoid. Another horse was treated with cimetidine over a 3-month period after surgical excision of the neoplasm in order to reduce the sarcoid and prevent its evolution. Surgical excision of the sarcoid associated with topical application of acyclovir ointment showed satisfactory results. Moreover, the combination of surgical excision and administration of liquid nitrogen on the lesion and topical application of acyclovir ointment in the postoperative period also provided good results. Given the complexity of sarcoid treatment and the high recurrence rate of these tumors, the use of combined treatments should be taken into account.

Lobação pulmonar e distribuição brônquica do ouriço-cacheiro (Sphiggurus villosus) / Lung lobation and bronchial distribution of the orange-spined hairy dwarf Porcupine (Sphiggurus villosus)

Background: The orange-spined hairy dwarf porcupine (Sphiggurus villosus) is a mammal found in Brazil, Venezuela, Guyanas and Bolivia. Its dorsum is yellowish brown and presents a great number of spines. There are no spines in the belly area, which is covered with softer fur. It can host ticks and louses, hemoparasites and endoparasites. This paper aimed to describe the lung lobation and the bronchial distribution of the orange-spined hairy dwarf porcupine. Materials, Methods & Results: The lungs of two orange-spined hairy dwarf porcupines, ran over by cars and with no damage in the viscerae, were used in the study. Animals were set with intramuscular and intravisceral injections of a 10% formaldehyde solution and further dissected. The right lung was bigger than the left one and presented cranial, middle, caudal and accessory lobes, and the cranial lobe was bilobated in cranial and caudal portions. The left lung presented cranial and caudal lobes, and the former was subdivided into cranial and caudal portions. The right main bronchus divided into three bronchi, one to the cranial, one to the middle and one to the caudal and accessory lobes. The right lobar bronchus gave origin to five segmental bronchi to the cranial portion and three segmental bronchi to the caudal portion; the middle lobar bronchus originated four segmental bronchi; the accessory lobe bronchus was originated from the right caudal lobe and divided into two segmental bronchi. The right lobar bronchus divided into eleven segmental bronchi. The main left bronchus bifurcated into one bronchus to the cranial lobe and one to the caudal lobe; the left cranial lobe bronchus divided into five to the cranial portion and two to the caudal portion; the left caudal lobe bronchus originated eleven segmental bronchi as well as the right one. Discussion: Markable interlobar fissures were noticed between lobes, similarly to the domestic carnivorous, to the crabeating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) and to wild rodents as agoutis (Dasyprocta azarae). There was a left lobe division, differently from the described in the crab-eating raccoon and horses, and similarly to the described in domestic carnivorous or in agoutis, capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and pacas (Agouti paca). In all lobes, but the accessory lobe, lobar bronchi divided into several segmental bronchi, differently from the described in the right cranial and accessory lobes of the domestic carnivorous and of the crab-eating raccoon, and from the right middle lobe bronchus of the paca, which presented a bifurcated lobar bronchus. It also differed from the left cranial lobe of agoutis and pacas, which presented one or three segmental bronchi to this lobe, respectively. In the accessory lobe, there was a lobar bronchus bifurcating in segmental bronchi, as described in the domestic carnivorous and in the crab-eating raccoon. The bronchial distribution and lung lobation of the orange-spined hairy dwarf porcupine were different from the ones reported in domestic carnivorous and horses, wild rodents and from the crab-eating raccoon, with a markable division in the left and right cranial lobes, as in the domestic ruminants, from whom it differed due the absence of the tracheal bronchus.