Martinez I, Brockman D, Purzycka K. Caval chemodectoma in a cat.
JFMS Open Rep 2022;
8:20551169221106990. [PMID:
35811937 PMCID:
PMC9260574 DOI:
10.1177/20551169221106990]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Case summary
An 11-year-old male neutered domestic shorthair cat was presented
with a 4-week history of an intermittent cough and dyspnoea. A
pleural effusion was identified, which was confirmed as chyle.
Echocardiography and CT revealed a 16 mm mass cranial to the
heart, which was invading the cranial vena cava. Because of the
location of the mass, it was assumed that chylothorax had
developed as a result of direct disruption of the thoracic duct
by the tumour or secondarily to central venous hypertension. An
exploratory thoracotomy was performed, and the mass, which
originated within the wall of the cranial vena cava, was excised
with narrow gross margins. Histopathology and
immunohistochemistry were consistent with a chemodectoma with
residual tumour cells at the surgical margin. Given the residual
microscopic disease, adjuvant treatment with toceranib phosphate
was initiated. The cat remained well for the duration of
treatment and was euthanased 31 months after diagnosis when CT
identified recurrent pleural effusion, a heart base mass with
cranial vena cava and azygos vein invasion.
Relevance and novel information
Chemodectomas are rare in cats, with only 13 cases reported in the
literature to date, and all were located in either the aortic or
carotid body. The reported survival with partial resection
and/or subtotal pericardiectomy was 13–19 months. Treatment of
feline chemodectomas with toceranib phosphate has not been
previously reported. To our knowledge, this is the first
description of the surgical management of a feline vena cava
chemodectoma, combined with adjuvant toceranib phosphate,
resulting in a prolonged survival.
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