3 – Pericardium and Endocardium Flashcards
Serous atrophy of fat
- *gelatinous appearance
- Epicardial fat
- Bone-marrow
- Kidney
When does serous atrophy of fat occur?
- When individual has a NEGATIVE energy balance
- Starvation
- Chronic inflammation (Ex. Johnes)
- Severe GI problems
Pericardial hemorrhages common post-mortem finding in animals that suffered
- Hypoxia
- Sepsis or septicemia
- Toxemia
- DIC
- Coagulopathies
- Electrocution
- *terminal finding in large animals
Classification of hemorrhages: according to size
- Petechial
- Ecchymotic
- Paint brush
Pericardial effusions
- Accumulation of fluid in the pericardial sac
- Transudate, blood, exudate
Distention of the pericardial sac: notably enlarge on physical damage to accommodate
- Excess fluid in hydropericardium
- Non-fatal progressive pericardial hemorrhage in hemopericardium
- Exudate in pericarditis
- Enlarged heart in cardiac hypertrophy and cardiomyopathy
Transudate
- Clear fluid
- Low cellularity
- Low protein
Exudate
- Turbid
- High cellularity
- PMNs (polymultinuclear neutrophils)
- High protein
Hydropericardium
- Transudate pericardial effusion
- Pericardial surfaces remain SMOOTH and GLISTENING
Hydropericardium pathogenesis
- Hydrostatic
- Hypoproteinemia
- Altered vascular permeability (ex. mulberry heart)
- *can be due to salt (NaCl) toxicity in chickens
Hydrostatic pathogenesis for hydropericardium
- R heart failure
- Pulmonary hypertension
Hypoproteinemia pathogenesis for hydropericardium
- Emaciation
- Protein losing enteropathy/nephropathy
Hemopericardium
- Blood pericardial effusion
- Predominantly RBCs
- High protein
- Caution: blood-tinged fluid occurs normally as a post-mortem finding
Hemopericardium can be caused by
- Atrial or aortic rupture
- Hemangiosarcoma
- Cardiac trauma/puncture
- *acute hemorrhage can cause CARDIAC TAMPONADE->sudden DEATH
Hemangiosarcoma in dog causing hemopericardium
- Dark b/c neoplastic cells form blood-filled vascular channels
Pericarditis
- Exudate pericardial effusion
According to the exudate in pericarditis: classification
- Fibrinous (most common)
- Suppurative (purulent)
- Fibrinohemorrhagic
- Granulomatous
Fibrinous pericarditis
- APPEARANCE: ‘bread and butter’, ‘cor villosum’
- Most commonly a result of bacterial infection
- Can be due to extension of a local inflammatory process
Polyserositis (Glasser’s disease)
- Due to GLAESSERELLA PARASUIS
- Fibrin and fluid in pericardial sac
- Fibrinopurulent exudate in joints
- (streptococcus suis type 2 can cause similar lesions in pigs)
Black leg (clostridial myositis)
- Fibrinous pericarditis commonly seen
o Fibrin strands in pericardial sac - Black discolouration of leg muscle
Traumatic reticulopericarditis
- When ruminant eats wire or nails and it pokes forward into the pericardium
- Dilated and thickened pericardial sac with fibrosis
- Sac is filled with exudate
- Epicardial surface is covered by exudate
Chronic pericarditis
- Brisket edema due to heart failure (compressive)
- Distended pericardial sac
- Sac filled with fibrin and blood
- Organized fibrin on epicardium
Chronic constrictive pericarditis
- Heart is encased in a dense fibrous or fibrocalcific scar
- May obliterate pericardial space
- *in extreme cases=resembles a plaster mold (‘concretio cordis’)
Examples of endocardial diseases
- Endocardial fibrosis
- Endocardial mineralization
- Valvular cysts
- Endocarditis
- Myxomatous degeneration