Intestinal intussusception secondary to enteritis caused by Pythium insidiosum in a bitch: case report

Abstract

We report a case of intestinal intussusception secondary to enteritis caused by Pythium insidiosum infection in a 1-year-old mixed breed bitch that died after a 30-day history of bloody diarrhea, anorexia, weight loss, listlessness, dehydration, and pale mucous membranes. Necropsy revealed two areas of intussusception, one jejunum-jejunal and one ileum-cecum-colic. The first intussusception showed slight congestion of the intestinal loop, which was resolved by manual traction, while the second intussusception exhibited thickening, irregular yellow spots, and transmural congestion. Histologically, the jejunum-jejunal segment had ischemic lesions secondary and ileum-cecum-colic intussusception there was also necrotizing, pyogranulomatous enteritis associated with negative images of intralesional fungal hyphae that were well visualized by silver impregnation. Immunohistochemistry identified the hyphae as Pythium insidiosum. The diagnosis was made based on the histological changes and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. We can conclude that enteritis by P. insidiosum in dogs can occasionally cause intestinal intussusception and result in acute death.

Colocolic Intussusception Associated with Octangium sp. (Digenea: Microscaphidiidae) in a Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas

“…The incidence of intussusception in the gastrointestinal tract has been reported frequently in domestic species, such as dogs and cats, as a result of gastroenteritis caused by bacterial infections (MacPhail 2002; Firmino et al 2017), and in horses, associated with parasitic infestation with Anoplocephala perfoliata (Barclay et al 1982; Owen et al 1989) and Parascaris equorum (Cribb et al 2006). It is rarely seen in wild species: previous studies describe intussusception in a Florida manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris , arising from ingestion of fishing artifacts (Forrester et al 1975); in a pine snake Pituophis melanoleucus , originating from an unknown cause (Wosar and Lewbart 2006); and in a red corn snake Pantherophis guttatus , associated with cryptosporidiosis (Bercier et al 2017).…”

“…The intussusception may affect all segments of the digestive tract in animals: esophagogastric and gastroduodenal (Bercier et al 2017), duodenoduodenal (Cappua and colleagues, unpublished), jejunojejunal (Firmino et al 2017), jejunoileal (Colomé et al 2006), ileocolic (Wosar and Lewbart 2006), ileocecocolic (Firmino et al 2017), and colocolic (Hasse et al 2019). The type of intussusception observed in our study was colocolic.…”

Intussusception Associated with Sand Accumulation in a Greater Rhea (Rhea americana)

“…Intestinal intussusception consists of the invagination of an intestinal segment into the lumen of the adjacent segment [7], the fi rst of which is called intussusceptum (the branch that is invaginated), and the second is called intussuscipiens (the branch that invaginates) [8]. Intussusception is a complex disease that is of great relevance for diseases of the digestive tract that affect domestic and wild animals and requires an early diagnosis to avoid more serious complications [7,[9][10][11][12].…”

“…The incidence of intussusception in the gastrointestinal tract has been reported frequently in domestic species, such as dogs and cats, as a result of gastroenteritis caused by bacterial infections [7,10]. In wild species, previous studies have described intussusception in reptiles, as in the snake Pantherophis guttatus, associated with cryptosporidiosis [9], and in a sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, associated with parasitic infestation with Octangium sp.…”

Intusussception Secondary to Gastrointestinal Foreign Body in an Eleven Month old Juvenile African Lion (Panthera Leo) Case Report

“…The majority of intussusceptions are idiopathic [16], however, causes such as: gastrointestinal foreign body, intestinal parasitism, neoplasms and enteritis have been documented [2,9,12,16]. Intussusceptions have been reported in various animal species such as: dogs and domestic cats [6,9], cattle [8], Maine coons [16], and a Red corn snake [2]. However, there is no record of an intestinal intussusception in a lion in the literature.…”