Granular cell tumours in the lungs of three horses

摘要

PRIMARY tumours of the lower icspiratory system are lare in horses Pulmonary granular cell tumour, also known as myoblastoma or putative Schwann cell tumour, is the most frequently reported primary lung tumour in the horse, and reports in the literature have been limited to small case series (Sweeney and Gillette 1989, Scarratt and Crisman 1998). The incidence of this neoplasm is very low; for example, three of 200,000 slaughtered horses in one study (Parodi and others 1974) and four of 40,000 in another (Misdorp and Nauta-van Gelder 1968). Affected horses are often presented because of chronic coughing, exercise intolerance, tachy-pnoea and weight loss. Careful auscultation of the lungs may reveal decreased breath sounds over one hemithorax. Thoracic radiographs often reveal well-defined single or multiple nodules associated with a major bronchus, and bronchoscopic examination may show a nodular mass protruding into the bronchial lumen. The diagnosis of a pulmonary granular cell tumour is usually confirmed on postmortem examination Since the majority of leported cases in the literature are from slaughtered horses, the purpose of this short communication is to describe the clinical findings of three adult horses diagnosed with pulmonary granular cell tumour at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMIH), School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis.