Canine angiosarcoma (lymphangiosarcoma)

After injury to the left foreleg, a 2 1/2-year-old Great Dane bitch developed severe oedema of the limb, which did not respond to pressure bandaging or a proteolytic agent. Skin breakdown occurred over the metacarpal region and lymph could be expressed from this lesion. The oedema spread, anaemia and dyspnoea developed and the animal died of respiratory insufficiency 55 days after the initial injury. Autopsy showed widespread infiltration of subcutis, fascial planes and some muscles of the leg by invasive cords and sheets of small endothelial-type cells which formed channels sometimes filled with blood. There was widespread diffuse metastatic neoplasm throughout the lung but no cavernous blood sinus formation. There were small metastases in local lymph nodes, kidney, bone marrow and spleen. It was concluded that the injury made obvious an oedema caused by pre-existing angiosarcoma.