Extraskeletal chondrosarcoma in the abdominal cavity of a cow

Thoracic Tumor Associated with a Unilateral Empyema in a Beef Cow: A Case Report

Tumors in cows are not frequently reported in the literature. They often represent unusual findings in live animals and are incidental at slaughter with rare positive therapeutic outcomes for farmers. A 9-year-old beef cow was referred to the hospital of ruminants of the National Veterinary School of Toulouse, France. The cow started to become sick 10 days prior, and major symptoms were anorexia, arched back, tachycardia, and tachypnea associated with significantly attenuated cardiac and pulmonary sounds upon right-sided auscultation. After specific investigations, a thoracic sarcoma associated with unilateral empyema was diagnosed. The empyema was treated, and supportive treatment was only performed for the tumor. Although the sarcoma remained, clinical improvement was significant, and the cow went back to her farm of origin. After the end of the withdrawal period, the cow recovered clinically but was culled by the owners for economic reasons. The present case report offers a continuum from the initial clinical signs motivating specific investigations to interesting laboratory findings, which were confirmed post-mortem.

Chondrosarcoma with undifferentiated neoplastic cell proliferation around the distal tibiotarsus bone in a wild Hooded Crane (Grus monacha)

An adult male Hooded Crane was found dead on the Izumi plane. At autopsy, subcutaneous nodules were found around the medial and lateral sides of the left distal tibiotarsus bone. The largest cross-section of the masses revealed a multilobular pattern, with small amounts of viscous mucus. Histopathologically, the nodules were composed of three types of neoplastic cells: chondrocytic cells with abundant lightly basophilic cartilaginous matrices, mesenchymal cells and a small portion of the neoplastic tissue consisted of undifferentiated neoplastic cells exhibiting a high mitotic count and frequent multinucleation. This is the first case of a chondrosarcoma including undifferentiated neoplastic cell proliferation in a wild Hooded Crane.