Non-communicating abomasal (gastric) diverticulum in a 7-day-old bull calf: a case report

A gastric diverticulum (GD) is defined as an outpouching of the gastric wall and is reported rarely in humans, cats and dogs. A congenital GD (true GD) is a full-thickness diverticulum involving all gastric layers. A 7-day-old bull calf with a history of sudden death was presented for post-mortem examination to the Purdue Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. On gross examination, arising from the wall of the caudal aspect of the greater curvature of the abomasum was a soft to firm hollow mass with no gross evidence of communication with the abomasal lumen. Histological sections of the mass revealed a full-thickness GD that possessed all four layers of the abomasum including segments of normal abomasal epithelium. The rumen, reticulum and omasum remain undeveloped at birth and during the first few weeks of life. A calf's rumen usually develops fully at around 12 weeks of age and the abomasum does not reach its maximum volume until around 1.5 years of age. Therefore, it is possible that this calf was either born with this anomaly or it may have developed and closed completely during early post-natal development of the forestomaches. As far as the author is aware, this is the first reported case of an abomasal diverticulum in a bovid.