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CYSTIC ENDOMETRIAL HYPERPLASIA AND BACTERIAL ENDOMETRITIS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INTRAUTERINE FOREIGN BODY IN A GUINEA PIG WITH OVARIAN CYSTIC DISEASE

https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jepm.2017.10.001Get rights and content

Abstract

A 3-year-old, 920 g intact female guinea pig presented with a 4-month history of nonpruritic hair loss on the ventral abdomen. The physical examination revealed flank and ventral abdominal alopecia, mucoid vulvar discharge, and abdominal distension. Bilateral rounded masses just caudal to the kidneys and structures consistent with enlarged uterine horns were detected on abdominal palpation. Abdominal ultrasound revealed bilateral ovarian cysts, thickened uterine horns, and multiple circular hypoechoic and anechoic structures in the uterine wall. The patient underwent ovariohysterectomy. Gross examination of the uterus revealed a piece of hay in the left uterine horn. A final diagnosis was hormonally active ovarian follicular cysts, cystic endometrial hyperplasia, and purulent bacterial endometritis caused by Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Arthrobacter spp. Cystic endometrial hyperplasia is infrequently reported in guinea pigs, and this report describes an associated bacterial endometritis and uterine foreign body with concurrent ovarian cysts.

Section snippets

Case Report

A 3-year-old, intact female guinea pig weighing 920 g was referred with a 4-month history of nonpruritic hair loss on the ventral abdomen. The guinea pig had been kept as a single pet and had never been bred.

On physical examination, the guinea pig was in a good body condition, and clinical abnormalities were limited to the following: nearly complete alopecia of the ventral abdomen and flanks, hyperkeratosis of the nipples, viscous discharge from the vaginal orifice, masses consistent with

Discussion

Cystic ovarian disease is common in female guinea pigs. Average age of affected sows is 1.5 years of age.20 Ovarian cysts in this species may cause bilateral, nonpruritic alopecia of the ventral abdomen and flanks, as observed in this case.21 Ovarian cysts in domestic animals are classified by their location of origin in relation to the ovary (periovarian, intraovarian) or according to cause (physiologic, infectious, and neoplastic).22, 23 Most ovarian cysts in guinea pigs are physiologic and

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the internal grant agency of the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic, project number IGA 54/2010/FVL. The authors thank Dr. Corinne Lendon, BSc, BVSc, PGCertL&T, PhD for comments and English grammar and spelling corrections.

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