Morphology of the vaginal complex in the white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris): Gross anatomy and light microscopy

Pyovagina and sepsis due to Streptococcus didelphis in a Virginia opossum

Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) are the only native marsupials in the United States of America and Canada. Females have a reproductive tract consisting of a complex duplex (bifurcated) reproductive system, with 2 ovaries, 2 uteri and uterine tubes, and a vaginal complex composed of 2 lateral vaginae, vaginal sinuses, and a urogenital sinus. Few conditions of the reproductive tract have been described in these marsupials. A 2-y-old, female Virginia opossum was presented because of hematuria and was found dead shortly after admission. The autopsy revealed left lateral vaginal torsion and pyovagina. Streptococcus didelphis was isolated and identified from the lateral vaginal exudate, blood, and liver using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Histologic examination confirmed suppurative and lymphoplasmacytic vaginitis, endometritis, cystitis, pyelonephritis and interstitial nephritis, portal hepatitis with fibrosis, myocarditis, and adrenalitis with intralesional gram-positive cocci. These results suggest ascending S. didelphis infection of the lateral vagina with subsequent torsion, bacterial translocation, bacteremia, and sepsis as the cause of death.

Gross Anatomy of the Female Reproductive System of Sugar Gliders (Petaurus breviceps)

We dissected carcasses of eight mature females, both parous and non-parous specimens, to study the macroscopic anatomy of the female reproductive system in the sugar glider. The genital system includes double organs, namely the right and left ones, which are completely separated. It includes two ovaries, two oviducts, two uteri and a vaginal complex. The uteri are fusiform-shaped and lack horns. The vaginal complex includes two lateral vaginae and a median vagina, also called the 'birth canal'. The cranial end of both lateral vaginae partially fuses, forming an expansion named the vaginal sinus, which is divided into two parts by a longitudinal septum, one for each vagina, where the ipsilateral uterine cervix opens. The caudal end of the lateral vaginae opens into a medial and impar duct: the urogenital sinus that serves as a common passage for the reproductive and urinary systems. In non-pregnant females, only the lateral vaginae are present. In pregnant and recently parous females, a short median vagina extends from the caudal wall of the vaginal sinus to the cranial end of the urogenital sinus. In the ventral wall of this sinus, next to its caudal opening, there is a forked clitoris.