Thoracic ectopia cordis, sternal agenesis, partial ectopia hepatica and fissure abdominalis in a German Shepherd puppy with milder incomplete pentalogy of Cantrell. Clinical case

Abstract

A newborn German Shepherd breed male puppy was presented with the complaint that some organs were formed outside the chest and abdomen. The rhythmic movements of the swelling under the chest pointed out the heart and the swelling under the abdomen was covered with a membrane. On the lateral radiograph of body, sternal agenesis, extra–thoracic location of the heart, and normal diaphragmatic border were seen, while the swelling in the abdomen was thought to be liver. During the diagnostic steps, the puppy died, and necropsy was performed. At necropsy, it was observed that the heart wrapped with the pericardium was placed extra–thoracically (thoracic ectopia cordis) due to sternal agenesis, and the liver was partially located extra–abdominally (ectopia hepatica) due to fissura abdominalis, which was surrounded by the peritoneum. Both radiological and necropsy findings revealed that there was no rib structure after the costochondral joints. Diaphragm was present, and there was no abnormality in the other intrathoracic and intraabdominal organs. Here, it is aimed to report thoracic ectopia cordis, sternal agenesis, ectopia hepatica and fissura abdominalis in a German Shepherd puppy with milder incomplete pentalogy of Cantrell, and to present the radiological and necropsy findings of the anomaly.