A syndrome characterized by bilateral, multifocal renal cystadenocarcinomas and nodular dermatofibrosis was found in 43 German shepherd dogs. Affected kidneys varied in weight from normal to 2950 g. The cut surface revealed multiple solid and cystic tumors that varied in size from barely visible to 27 cm in diameter. Metastases were found in ten of the 23 dogs examined since 1979. All 23 dogs had numerous firm nodules in the skin and subcutis, and ten of 11 bitches had multiple uterine leiomyomas. Histological examination of the renal cortex showed multifocal hyperplastic to highly malignant epithelial proliferations. Skin lesions consisted of dense collagen fibers, and the uterine tumors consisted of interlacing bundles of smooth muscle cells. Pedigree analysis strongly indicates that the syndrome is hereditary, probably in an autosomal dominant pattern. This seems to be the first description of such a syndrome in domestic animals. Comparable syndromes in man are discussed.

R a p i d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s

The clinical findings in German shepherd dogs with hereditary multifocal renal cystadenocarcinomas and nodular dermatofibrosis are presented. Between 1978 and 1996, 51 cases were examined. Eight cases were detected after being offered a clinical examination because the disease was present in a parent. The remaining 43 dogs were diagnosed after an unsolicited visit to a clinic because of a specific problem. Skin lesions were the main reason (37 per cent) the owners presented their dog for examination. The mean age at diagnosis of renal cystadenocarcinomas and nodular dermatofibrosis was 8.2 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1.1, while the corresponding figure for a reference population was 1.25. Enlarged and abnormally shaped kidneys were palpated in 60 per cent of the dogs and were detected by radiography in 86 per cent of cases. The renal lesions, including metastases, were the main reason for euthanasia and death. The mean age at death was 9.3 years, and the mean age at the first detection of nodular dermatofibrosis was 6.4 years.

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Abstract. During a period of 1.5 months, a newly established pig herd experienced a high number of mummifications and stillbirths, a high neonatal mortality rate, and many piglets with congenital tremors or hind leg ataxia. After clinical and histological investigations, the submitted animals were divided into 4 groups: mummified or stillborn (N 5 6), live born with myocarditis (N 5 5) (average age 22.8 days), live born without myocarditis (N 5 14) (average age 20.0 days), and control animals from a different herd (N 5 5) (newborn). Statistically significant differences were observed in the mean porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) load among the 4 groups in the liver (P , 0.0001). The presence of PCV2 antigen within the myocardial lesions was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. A high load of PCV2 DNA was observed in myocardium, liver, and spleen from mummified or stillborn piglets (.1 3 10 7 copies per 500 ng DNA), lower in piglets with myocarditis (.1 3 10 5 copies per 500 ng DNA), and even further lower in pigs without myocarditis (,1 3 10 5 copies per 500 ng DNA), whereas no PCV2 DNA was detected in the control animals. Myocardium, liver, and spleen were well suited for routine testing of fetuses and young piglets by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Neither porcine parvovirus nor encepaholomyocarditis virus was detected. These results indicate that the PCV2 infection might have been of etiological importance for the fetal deaths and piglet mortality observed in this herd.