Diagnosis and surgical treatment of an intracranial cyst in an alpaca cria.

Abstract

CASE DESCRIPTION:

A 7-day-old female alpaca was examined because of an acute onset of diffuse central neurologic deficits.

CLINICAL FINDINGS:

Diagnostic imaging with CT and MRI identified an intracranial cyst occupying approximately one-third to one-half of the dorsal portion of the cranial cavity, markedly displacing the cerebral hemispheres bilaterally.

TREATMENT AND OUTCOME:

Initial surgical management via trephination and needle drainage was only transiently effective at resolving the neurologic signs. Craniotomy and drainage and removal of the cyst lining resulted in a sustained improvement in neurologic status, and the cria remained clinically normal and well grown at follow-up 5 months after surgery.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE:

This report represented the first description of the successful treatment of an intracranial cyst in a New World camelid.

• Authors: Laura A Hardefeldt, Helena Rylander, B J Iskandar, M Ellison, Simon F Peek
• Journal: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (J Am Vet Med Assoc) Vol. 240 Issue 12 Pg. 1501-6 (Jun 15 2012) ISSN: 1943-569X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22657935 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Animals
• Camelids, New World (parasitology)
• Diagnosis, Differential
• Echinococcosis (diagnosis, surgery, veterinary)
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (veterinary)
• Therapeutic Irrigation (veterinary)
• Tomography, X-Ray Computed (veterinary)
• Treatment Outcome