Alimentary pathology Flashcards
What are some potential signs of GIT disease?
- Dysphagia
- Ptyalism
- Halitosis
- Inappetance/anorexia
- Vomiting
- Regurgitation
- Diarrhoea
- Weight loss
What are some defences of the GIT?
- Saliva
- Resident microflora
- Low gastric pH
- Secreted immunoglobulins
- Vomiting
- Intestinal proteolytic enzymes
- Submucosal phagocytes
- Rapid epithelial turnover
- Increased peristalsis –> diarrhoea
- Adaptive immunity
Define stomatitis
Diffuse inflammation of the oral cavity mucosa
Define pharyngitis
Inflammation of the pharynx
Define glossitis
Inflammation of the tongue
Define tonsillitis
Inflammation of the tonsils
Define gingivitis
Inflammation of the gingiva
Name some defence mechanisms specific to the oral cavity
- Tough, stratified squamous epithelium
- Rapid epithelial regeneration
- Resident microflora occupy attachment sites- outcompete invaders
- Taste buds reject potential toxins
- Saliva contains digestive enzymes
- Salivary pH
- Swallowing, flushing action
- Mucosal secretions provide physical and chemical protection (IgA and lysozyme)
How may tooth malocclusion occur?
Uneven wear on the teeth of ruminants and horses can result in sharp edges that require filing. Horses and ruminants have open rooted teeth and so they will continue to grow.
Rabbits and rodents also have open rooted incisors and these are prone to becoming overgrown
How can stomatitis be classified?
Cause:
-Direct injury e.g. foreign body (needle, grass seed), ingested chemicals
-Systemic or local disease e.g. viruses (FMD, blue-tongue), auto-immune disease (pemphigus), uraemia (associated with renal failure)
Type of inflammation:
e.g. vesicular, erosive, ulcerative, catarrhal etc
What are the features of vesicular stomatits?
- Fluids accumulate in the epithelium then coalesce
- Surface epithelium rubs off –> erosions with tags of epithelium attached
- Unless infected by bacteria, healing is rapid
- Often caused by viruses including FMD
What disease may present with ulcerative or erosive stomatitis?
Uraemia Viruses -Feline calicivirus -Mucosal disease (or BVD) -Blue tongue -Malignant catarrhal fever -Equine viral rhinotracheitis
What is a syndrome?
A combination of clinical signs resulting from a single cause or often occurring with a distinct clinical picture
Describe eosinophlic granuloma complex
-A group of lesions that affect the skin, mucocutaneous junction and oral cavity of cats and dogs (less commonly)
-Reaction pattern, not disease diagnosis
1. Indolent ulcer (doesn’t heal, tends to affect MCJ)
2. Eosinophilic (or linear) granuloma (of ten seen in oral cavity esp. tongue and palate)
3. Eosinophilic plaque (mostly occur on abdomen or thighs)
Often seen in cats with hypersensitivity disorders such as allergies to food, insects, and inhalants
Name some developmental abnormalities that may affect the oral cavity
Cleft lip (cheiloschisis) Cleft palate (palatoschisis) Malocclusions (named according to the position of the mandible) -Brachygnathia- parrot mouth, short mandible -Prognathia- elongate mandible [May be characteristic of some breeds]
What is gingival hyperplasia?
Gingival overgrowth; more common in brachycephalic breeds such as boxers
What is epulis?
=Excessive growth of gingiva
There are many different types including fibrous and fibromatous but all are considered benign
Name the type of malignant epulis
-Acanthmatous epulides (malignant acanthomatous ameloblastoma)
Can invade bone and are prone to reoccurrence following surgical removal
What are the most common oral tumours in dogs?
Oral melanomas (90% are malignant)
What are the most common oral tumours in cats?
Oral fibrosarcomas (20%)
Where do oral squamous cell carcinomas common occur in dogs and cats?
On the tongue in cats and on the tonsils in dogs
What is megaoesophagus?
=condition where peristalsis fails to occur normally and the oesophagus becomes enlarged
- May be congenital
- Pathogenesis is unknown but has been associated with pyloric stenosis, hiatus hernia and lead poisoning
What is oesophagitis?
Erosive/ulcerative oesophagitis: often associated with viral diseases with lesions of oral cavity/rumen (BVD, Felive calicivirus)
- caustic/irritant chemicals e.g. gastric refulx
- foreign body damage
- ionising radiation
- electrochemical reactions
- hot ingesta
What is traumatic reticuloperitonitis and what are the clinical signs?
Also known as "hardware disease", TRP is caused by penetration of the wall of the reticulum by an ingested foreign body Clinical signs include: -anorexia -fall in milk yield -Mild pyrexia -Ruminal stasis -Abdominal pain or grunting May result in acute local peritonitis Spontaneous recovery if adhesions form Penetration of pleural or pericardial sacs leading to pleuritis, pneumonia or pericarditis
