Hypercalcemia in two Amazon parrots with malignant lymphoma
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Published on: March 14, 2017
Martine de Wit1, Nico J Schoemaker, Marja J L Kik
1Division of Avian and Exotic Animal Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 8, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Malignant lymphoma is a common malignancy in birds. Paraneoplastic syndromes, which are commonly observed in domestic animals, have not been reported in association with lymphoma in birds. Hypercalcemia and hyperglobulinemia were found on plasma chemistry in two Amazon parrots, which were presented with aspecific symptoms. In both cases radiography and ultrasound demonstrated signs of hepatomegaly, which proved to be due to malignant lymphoma on postmortem examination. The hypercalcemia was found to be most consistent with a paraneoplastic effect of the malignant lymphoma in these birds. The exact origin of the hyperglobulinemia remains unclear.
