Ch 84 Abdominal hernia

Question 1

Bellamy JFMS 2024

Feline ventral abdominal wall
angiosarcoma: haemangiosarcoma
or lymphangiosarcoma? Clinical
and pathological characteristics
in nine cases

Answer 1

Results All cats presented with a ventral abdominal mass, five of which were producing a serosanguinous discharge.
Eight underwent tumour staging and pulmonary metastases were suspected in one cat (but not histologically
confirmed). With histopathology alone, a diagnosis of angiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma was made in four
and five cases, respectively. After immunohistochemistry, five cases had a haemangiosarcoma phenotype and
four had a lymphangiosarcoma phenotype, including two cases of lymphangiosarcoma that were reclassified as
hemangiosarcoma. Eight cats received treatment (either surgery with or without adjuvant therapies or medical
management alone). Six cats were euthanased due to local disease progression. The median survival time for
haemangiosarcoma was 166 days (range 137–381), and for lymphangiosarcoma it was 197 days (range 67–208).
Two cats with haemangiosarcoma remained alive for a follow-up period of 329 and 580 days, respectively.
Conclusions and relevance Feline ventral abdominal angiosarcomas are rare locally aggressive neoplasms. While
histology often provides a diagnosis of angiosarcoma, immunohistochemistry is ultimately required to differentiate
between haemangiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma phenotypes. Further studies are required to evaluate
whether the different phenotypes have an impact on treatment response and outcome.