Solitary intra-abdominal Castleman's disease, hyaline vascular type: case report.

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of solitary intra-abdominal Castleman disease and highlight the importance of this entity to clinicians in the management of these patients. CASE PRESENTATION AND INTERVENTION: A 20 year old gentleman who presented with a recurrent intra-abdominal retroperitoneal mass. Previous biopsies obtained from a laparotomy showed Castleman disease- vascular hyaline type. Patient did not respond to chemotherapy and the mass was gradually increasing in size. Surgical intervention was the only option and the patient underwent complete resection of the retroperitoneal mass. Final histopathological examination confirmed the initial diagnosis of Castleman disease. CONCLUSION: Castleman's disease is a fairly rare benign tumor of lymphoid origin. It should be included in the list of differential diagnosis of retroperitoneal masses. Unicentric Castleman disease should be treated surgically when feasible and carries better prognosis compared to multicentric disease.

Effect of strategic gastrointestinal nematode control on faecal egg count in traditional West African cattle.

This paper reports on the effect of strategic anthelmintic treatments and other determinants on faecal egg counts (FEC) of Trichostrongyles in N'Dama cattle of a west African village. Initially, 527 animals from 13 private N'Dama cattle herds were monitored in a longitudinal study from October 1989 to December 1994. Each herd was stratified by age and animals were sequentially allocated to two groups with similar age distributions. One group received a single anthelmintic treatment of fenbendazole (7.5 mg/kg BW), in October 1989 (n = 250), whereas the other group remained untreated (n = 277) throughout the study. In the next rainy season (June to October), the treated animals were treated twice (in July and September). The same treatment schedule was used in the subsequent rainy seasons until December 1994. Biannual anthelmintic treatments decreased the level of FEC between 31% (late dry season) and 57% (rainy season), when compared to untreated controls. The highest levels of FEC were found during the rainy season from June to October. FEC levels decreased until 4 years of age, after which they remained on a constant low level. The variability of returns to anthelmintic treatments between herds did not seem to be influenced by FEC at the herd level. The financial evaluation of anthelmintic interventions cannot be predicted from FEC and must necessarily rely on the direct monitoring of livestock productivity parameters.

[Swiss veterinary research and development project in the Gambia: the point of view of the breeder concerning control of helminthiasis in livestock]. / Projet suisse de recherche-développement vétérinaire en Gambie: le point de vue de l'éleveur sur la lutte contre les helminthoses chez le bétail.

The epidemiology of nematodes in livestock in The Gambia was assessed. A prophylactic biannual treatment was then tested on cattle and sheep. This treatment resulted in a significant improvement in the reproductive performances (sheep: lambings/year increasing from 1.04 to 1.22 and lambs/lambing increasing from 1.11 to 1.19; cattle: age at first calving decreasing from 58 to 50 months) and, in cattle, a significant improvement of the weight (varying between 8% and 17% in 1 to 4 year old animals). A socioeconomic study conducted in parallel showed that the treatment in cattle is on average profitable (benefit/cost ratio of 1.14) but remains a risky investment which should not be generalised (benefit/cost ratio would have been below 1 in more than half of the participating herds). In sheep, the benefit/cost ratio is high (2.47) with a low risk of losses (< 10%). The obstacles to the adoption by farmers of such a treatment and the usefulness of a pluridisciplinary approach in similar studies are then discussed.

Biannual anthelmintic treatments in village Djallonke sheep in The Gambia: effects on productivity and profitability.

An on-farm deworming trial was conducted between 1991 and 1995 on traditionally managed Djallonke sheep in The Gambia to assess the impact on productivity and profitability of prophylactic biannual anthelmintic treatments- Fifteen private flocks with an average of 25 animals per flock participated in the experiment. Half of each flock was dewormed twice a year while the other half served as the control group. The two productivity traits that were significantly improved by the treatment scheme tested were the number of lambs per lambing which increased from 1.11 +/- 0.31 (Mean +/- S.D.) to 1.19 +/- 0.39 and the number of lambings per year which improved from 1.04 +/- 0.53 to 1.22 +/- 0.47. The mortality and weight at 12 months were not significantly affected by the treatment. Monitoring of sheep sales in the flocks and on surrounding markets allowed the calculation of a rate of return to the treatment scheme tested of 246%. Despite large variations in returns. The scheme studied is recommended as over 90% of the adopting farmers would yield positive returns to their investment.

Effect of strategic gastrointestinal nematode control on growth of N'Dama cattle in Gambia.

From October 1989 to December 1994, a longitudinal study on the control of gastrointestinal nematodes was done on 1000 N'Dama cattle in 20 private herds in Gambia. Each herd was divided into two groups with an even distribution of age and sex. One group received a single anthelmintic treatment of Fenbendazole, Panacur Hoechst Veterinär GmbH, 7.5 mg kg-1 BW in October 1989, whereas the other group served as an untreated control. In July 1990, the herds were subdivided into two different treatment schemes. In the herds of the first scheme the treated animals (Treatment group I) were treated once (in August), whereas in the herds of the second scheme the treated animals (Treatment group II) were treated twice (in July and September). The same treatment schedule was used in the subsequent rainy seasons until December 1994. One group in every herd served as control (Treatment group 0) and received no anthelmintic treatment throughout the study. One annual fenbendazole treatment had no significant effect on liveweights, whereas two annual treatments significantly increased liveweights of the age group 12-24 and 24-36 months by 9.4%, and 17.5%, respectively. Animals less than 12 months old had 6.3% higher liveweights after two treatments, the difference was statistically not significant (P < 0.06). Average weights of 3- and 4-year-old, twice-treated animals were 13.1% and 8.2%, respectively, higher compared with their controls. No effect of anthelminthic treatment on liveweights was found in 5-year-old and older animals. Herd structure analysis demonstrated that overall male offtake rates ranged from 12 to 28% in the 3-, 4- and 5-year-old age categories. The age categories within which deworming improves liveweights thus coincides with the age at which males are mainly sold. These results suggest that biannual metaphylactic treatments (end of July and beginning of September) of all animals from birth to an age of 4 years should be recommended, provided that the financial analysis demonstrates the profitability of this intervention.

Returns from strategic anthelmintic treatments in village cattle in the Gambia.

A large-scale study was undertaken to investigate the effects of two systematic anthelmintic treatments on village cattle productivity in the Gambia. Treated animals had significantly higher performance in terms of live weights and age at first calving, but the mortality rate of 0- to 1-yr-old cattle appeared to be negatively affected. These results and financial data on treatment costs were used in a herd simulation model to assess the profitability of the intervention. Treatment was profitable on average, but the risks of losing money were large and average returns were sensitive to various hypotheses examined. The treatment regimen studied can only be recommended in certain herds and further research is needed to identify the factors determining the negative response in other herds.

Effect of strategic gastrointestinal nematode control on fertility and mortality of N'Dama cattle in The Gambia.

A large-scale longitudinal study was undertaken to investigate the effects of a strategic treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes on the mortality and fertility of N'Dama cattle under village conditions. Initially, 1046 animals from 26 private N'Dama cattle herds, were monitored from October 1989 to December 1994. Each herd was stratified by age and the animals were randomly allocated to two groups with a similar average age. One group received a single anthelmintic treatment of fenbendazole (Panacur, 7.5 mg/kg BW, Hoechst Veterinä AG) in October 1989, whereas the other group remained untreated. In July 1990, the herds were subdivided into two different treatment schemes. In the herds of scheme 1, the treated animals (Treatment group I) were treated once (in August), whereas in the herds of scheme 2, the treated animals (Treatment group II) were treated twice (in July and September). The same treatment schedule was used in the subsequent rainy seasons until December 1994. One group in every herd of both schemes served as control (Treatment group 0) and received no anthelmintic treatment throughout the study. The average annual cumulative incidence mortality between 0-1 year was more than two times higher in treated animals compared to their controls (21% against 7.5%). No differences were found in older age categories. Survival analysis confirmed differences in mortality from 0-1 year, but were not significant in proportional hazard models. The 25% quantiles of age at first calving was used to quantify differences between twice treated animals (50.2 months) and its controls (58.3 months) which represents a decrease of 8 months in twice treated animals. Annual calving rates of twice treated animals were 52.2% compared to 43.6% in the control group (P < 0.001), which is an increase of 8.6% to the control rate. Possible causes of increased mortality in 0-1 year old treated calves are discussed. We can conclude that in the present epidemiological situation and the given parasite spectrum, gastro-intestinal nematodes mainly affect host fertility. Strategic control of gastro-intestinal nematodes is thus recommended for young heifers up to their age of first calving provided the overall financial analysis of the intervention is beneficial.