engleski

Small intestinal ganglioneuromatosis in a mature dog

Ganglioneuromatosis is a rare disorder characterized by hyperplasia of intestinal ganglia including myenteric plexus and enteric nerve fibers. This disorder is generally described in children, but sporadic cases have also been described in adults. Most human cases arise in the colon and rectum. The disorder has also been described in dogs, mostly juveniles, but rarely in mature dogs. We report the first case in a mature dog from Croatia. A 13-year old female, mixed-breed dog had a history of diarrhea and weight loss. Ultrasound revealed focally-extensive markedly thickened small intestine. The changed part of the intestine, measuring 7 mm x 20 mm, was removed on laparotomy and delivered for histopathologic examination. Grossly, the intestine showed circumferential expansion of the mucosa. Microscopic findings included diffuse hyperplasia of myenteric and submucous plexus. So far, reports of ganglioneuromatosis in dogs included young dogs, and the oldest dog reported with this change was 9 years old. Our report shows that ganglioneuromatosis can be encountered in older dogs and it should be listed as one differential diagnosis in dogs where infectious and neoplastic etiology has been ruled out as cause of diarrhea.

Ganglioneuromatosis, dog, small intestine, histology

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