Ectopic dioctophymosis in a dog - Clinical, diagnostic and pathological challenges of a silent disease.

A 9-month old, female, stray dog was rescued and conducted to a university veterinary hospital. Moderate anemia was observed and abdominal ultrasound revealed pancreatitis. Right kidney was not visualized due to intestinal gas. Urinalysis was normal. Castration was performed three weeks later. Before discharge, abdominal ultrasound was performed for internal sutures examination. A cyst-like structure was present in the right retroperitoneal space with what appeared to be tubular worms inside it, not observed in previous evaluation. An ectopic dioctophymosis diagnosis was made. Two female Dioctophyme renale were surgically removed from the structure. Right kidney was hyperemic but not removed. No sign of peritonitis was observed. The dog recovered well. Laboratory follow-up showed no abnormalities a year after the episode and Doppler ultrasound revealed a mild right nephropathy. This is the first canine ectopic dioctophymosis case with only an abdominal cyst-like structure containing viable nematodes, successfully treated. It represents the rarity and difficulties in diagnosing ectopic dioctophymosis even in enzootic locations, highlighting the importance of ultrasonographic screening for such silent, potentially zoonotic disease.

Vimentin, osteocalcin and osteonectin expression in canine primary bone tumors: diagnostic and prognostic implications.

Canine primary bone tumors have a plastic radiographic image, demanding histopathological confirmation. Bone tumors are characterized by the type and amount of extracellular matrix produced what cannot be easily recognized, especially in biopsy samples. Identifying cellular markers that could aid diagnosis has supported various studies in oncological pathology. This study aimed to evaluate 22 canine primary bone neoplasms, establishing their histopathological diagnosis and evaluated vimentin, osteonectin and osteocalcin expression and their implication in diagnosis and prognosis. There were 12 productive osteoblastic osteosarcomas, six minimally productive osteoblastic osteosarcoma, two chondrosarcomas, one fibrosarcoma and one hemangiosarcoma. Immunostaining was cytoplasmatic in all cases, with average percentage of 87.9% for vimentin, 98.0% for osteonectin and 99.9% for osteocalcin. In this last case, only osteosarcomas were considered. Intensity was higher in vimentin labeling (+++), followed by osteonectin (++) and osteocalcin (+). One osteosarcoma showed negative immunostaining for vimentin and of samples submitted to anti-osteocalcin immunostaining, three osteosarcomas and one fibrosarcoma had negative staining. Besides identifying mesenchymal origin, vimentin elevated expression in canine bone tumors can be related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition, leading to more aggressive tumoral phenotypes and metastasis development. Similarly, high osteonectin expression is implicated in neoplastic cell invasion and is also related to metastasis spread. Decreased osteocalcin expression was found in some osteosarcoma samples and can be related to poor prognosis, as in human osteosarcomas. Our findings suggest that vimentin, osteonectin and osteocalcin not only aid diagnosis but can be related to prognosis in canine primary bone tumors, especially osteosarcomas and its osteoblastic subtype.