Todayโs path rounds are on ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ! This post is inspired by our case load yesterday, which had *two* teratomas come in on the same day. What are the odds?
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ are a strange and rare type of tumour, primarily found in the ovaries of animals. These tumours can have hair, cartilage, and even bone growing within them!
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
Any species can get this tumour.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
In these tumours, the ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ, the cells that normally produce eggs or sperm, undergo ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. This means that they start to develop into a cell resembling a normal body structure. The resulting cell proliferation typically resembles skin, including hair follicles. Thus, you can get a lot of hair growing within these tumours! In some instances, they may also develop into cartilage, bone, fat, teeth and lung tissue. Wild!
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
These masses donโt usually cause issues, but they can get very large! In those cases, the animal may have an enlarged, uncomfortable abdomen.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
These are typically only found when the animal is undergoing a routine spay procedure. In most cases, the spay can proceed as normal, and the veterinarian can submit the enlarged ovary to a pathologist for diagnosis. Or, they can cut into it themselves! If they find hair insideโฆ well thereโs really only one thing that could be!
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-5) Examples of hairy ovaries! Gross.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 3. Sixth Edition.
Photos 1-5 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributor Miller, Dick, Wright/Meuten, Crowell, Hedstrom licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
