Diagnosis and surgical removal of brain abscesses in a juvenile alpaca
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Published on: January 26, 2019
Catherine E Talbot1, Karin Mueller, Nicolas Granger
1Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, England.
Case Description:
A 1-month-old female alpaca was examined because of progressive clinical signs consistent with an intracranial lesion.
Clinical Findings:
Clinical signs included signs of depression, lethargy, tetraparesis, and neck weakness. Two large isointense intracranial masses could be seen on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. On T2-weighted images, the masses contained concentric rings of hypointense and hyperintense material.
Treatment And Outcome:
2 abscesses were removed via a craniotomy that incorporated removal of the sagittal crest and surrounding skull and transection of the sagittal sinus. The bony deficit was replaced with polypropylene mesh. The alpaca recovered within 2 weeks and was fully integrated into the herd within 1 month after surgery.
Clinical Relevance:
Findings indicated that surgical removal is a feasible means of successfully treating intracranial abscesses in juvenile alpacas.
