©1996-2018. All Rights Reserved. Online Journal of
Veterinary Research. You may not store these pages in any form
except for your own personal use. All other usage or distribution is illegal
under international copyright treaties. Permission to use any of these pages in
any other way besides the before mentioned must be gained in writing from the
publisher. This article is exclusively copyrighted in its entirety to OJVR
publications. This article may be copied once but may not be, reproduced or re-transmitted without the express permission of the
editors.
OJVRTM
Online Journal of Veterinary Research©
Volume 4
(5): 153-155, 2001.
Postsurgical
differentiation of Coenurosis and Echinococcosis.
Hovhannes
Z. Naghashyan a and Hektor
G. Harutunyan b.
From Hovhannes Z. Naghashyan
DVM, PhD, Professor.
Head: Parasitology Department, Armenian Agricultural Academyaand
Hektor G. Harutunyan DVM,
MS, Department of Surgery at the Armenian Agricultural Academyb.
ABSTRACT
Naghashyan
H. Z, Harutunyan HG Postsurgical differentiation of Coenurosis and Echinococcosis, Online Journal of Veterinary
Research 4: 153-155, 2000. Morphological differences of surgically removed
cysts from 47 sheep diagnosed with coenurosis are
reported. Results showed that 43 of the sheep had cerebral echinococcosis
whereas only 4 had coenurosis; The
findings provide for methods to prevent the disease.
INTRODUCTION
Coenurosis
and echinococcosis have a wide distribution in
During the last 10 years, after the collapse
of big sheep farms and general veterinary services, information on the rate of
the mentioned diseases is not available. According to our data,
establishment of smaller farms with an absence of preventative measures has
promoted these diseases. Veterinarians are concerned that surgical treatment of
coenurosis during pasture period is followed by
serious complications. Practitioners maintain that coenurosis
in sheep is easily diagnosed based on epidemiological data and typical clinical
signs, but the surgical removal of the cysts from the brain is usually
complicated with rupture of the cyst wall or acute bleeding after the removal,
which brings other postsurgical complications and death. The purpose of this
report is to describe the morphological differences of surgically removed cysts
in a group of 47 sheep diagnosed with coenurosis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The
research was performed during October-November 1997-1998 in
Forty
seven (47) sheep with typical clinical signs of coenurosis
were examined. The animals were aged between 7 months and 2 years.
The diagnosis of coenurosis was based on
epidemiological data, taking into account the pasture period of up to 10 months,
presence of stray and other dogs in the village, statistical data on the
presence of the disease in the region, slaughter of the animals in pasture and
near farmhouses, impossibility of utilization of slaughter subproducts
and the absence of dog deworming and dog population control.
Animals
that were diagnosed with coenurosis had the following
clinical symptoms: Depressed consciousness, sometimes with bouts of excitation,
aimless wandering, emaciated condition, loss of appetite, signs of frequent tympani,
shineless wool and wool loss. Some of the
animals also had signs of visual impairment, one sided or complete blindness,
pupil dilation and hyperemia in the eyes. In some animals neck muscle
paresis could be seen. Examination of the skull showed no noticeable
deformation and no softening was present. In some animals percussion of
the temporal regions revealed a dull sound.
Surgery
was performed according to the technique described by P.P. Gertsen’s (1998)
Examination of the removed cysts was done according to M.D. Orekhov’s
RESULTS
Clinical
signs: The typical clinical history for a 2.5 year old 52 Kg Mazekh sheep was depressed consciousness, loss of appetite,
uncoordinated movement and neck paresis. Left side limbs showed muscular
weakness. The cornea of the left eye was covered with a white opacity and
the pupil of the right eye was dilated. The sensory reflex arc of the
right front limb was decreased. Examination of the skull showed no
deformation in the bones. Percussion of the right temporal region revealed
dull sound. Based on epidemiological data and clinical signs the animal
was diagnosed with right temporal coenurosis. During
the surgical procedure, removal of the cyst caused profuse bleeding which was
prevented by using a tamponade in the wound. The surgery was delayed
until the next day. To prevent surgical shock the animal was given a 2.5%
solution of Aminasin
twice a day. Next day, during surgical removal of the cyst a small area, which was
attached to the brain tissues was noticed, and its separation again caused
bleeding. Two days after surgery, the animal died from intracerebral
bleeding.
Cysts:
Of the 47 sheep diagnosed with coenurosis, 60% of the cysts were found in lobar region and 40%
in other parts. The cysts had circumferences measuring 0.5 to 2cm. In 43
of the sheep, cysts were difficult to separate from the surrounding tissues,
some of them rupturing during the separation and causing profuse bleeding
resulting in complications during surgery and recovery. Macroscopical
examination of the cysts removed from the 43 animals revealed their rich
vascularity and the cyst walls revealed structural similarity to echinococcal cysts, with a thick and shiny outer layer (cuticula) and an inner germinative
membrane, smaller vesicles and scolices attached to
the walls. Microscopical examination of the
cyst content showed free scolices and typical parts
of the multilayer membrane. Therefore the cysts from the 43 examined
animals showed similarity with echinococcal cysts ( E. veterinorum)
as in their structure and in their content. In the other 4 sheep, the cysts
were easily separated from the surrounding tissues, had a superficial location
and were larger. The tissues surrounding the cysts in these animals had a
smooth surface and a dark pink color. Minimal bleeding occurred during
surgery. Three days after surgery these 4 animals did not differ from
other healthy animals and did not show any clinical signs of the disease.
The cysts did not have any vascularity and their
content was diffrent to echinococcal
cyst, but they had 20 to 75 scolices attached to the
wall. These cysts were similar to coenural
cysts in their structure and content.
Cyst
identification: Surgical and parasitological examination showed that 43 of the
sheep that had typical clinical signs of coenurosis, actually had echinococcal cysts
in their brains and the other 4 sheep had coenural
cysts. To identify the cysts, we infected 4
mixed breed dogs. The first two dogs were given coenural
cysts with the food and the other two echinococcal
cysts. 3 month later the dogs were dewarmed
with Arecolin. The first two dogs had scolices and proglotids
resembling Multiceps multiceps
parasite and the other two dogs’ fecal mass revealed echinococcal
parasites.
DISCUSSION
The
results suggest that cerebral echinococcosis is more prevalent in Armenian
sheep than coenurosis. Echinococcosis is more
difficult to treat surgically and usually is followed by postsurgical
complications, and even death. The similarity of the clinical signs and
epidemiological data on cerebral echinococcosis and coenurosis
provides prevention measures to decrease the incidence of both diseases.
REFERENCES
1.
Martinenko V. B, Loseva T. A et al. The distribution of
echinococcosis in the USSR. Medical parasitology
and parasitic diseases. 1988, #6, page 61-65.
2.
Philipov V. V.. Epidemiology of helmintic diseases in
farm animals.
3. Gertzen P.P.. Treatment
and prevention of traumas in industrial farming.
4. Jakubovsky M. V. Karasedj N. F. Parasite diseases of
animals.
©1996-2001 All Rights Reserved. Online Journal of Veterinary Research. You may
not store these pages in any form except for your own personal use. All other
usage or distribution is illegal under international copyright treaties.
Permission to use any of these pages in any other way besides the before
mentioned must be gained in writing from the publisher. This article is
exclusively copyrighted in its entirety to OJVR publications. This article may
be copied once but may not be, reproduced or re-transmitted
without the express permission of the editors.