Congenital Ectopia cordis in cattle

Ectopia cordis is a congenital anomaly defined as an abnormal position of the heart outside the thorax. Based on the position of the heart, the ectopia is cervical, thoracic and abdominal. The first form has been observed most frequently in domestic animal, whereas the last two have been described mainly in man. The article reports 6 cases of Ectopia cordis in calves. In five cases the heart was situated in the cervical area, in one case outside the chest. Affected calves were both male and female, and of different breeds. Two calves were stillborn, three died during the first days of life whereas the last survived for one month. Among the different animals species Ectopia cordis seems to occur mostly in cattle. In this species the cervical Ectopia cordis accounts for the majority of the cases. Cervical Ectopia cordis is likely due to fibrous adhesions between the pericardium and the surrounding tissues that inhibit the migration of the heart into the thoracic cavity. This condition has been found in the subjects examined. Within the pericardial cavity, the apex of the heart was, generally, cranially oriented and the right ventricle was hypertrophic. Furthermore, the pulmonary trunk was connected with the aortic arch by a persistent arterial duct. Thoracic Ectopia cordis is due to a failure of the two embryonic sternal islands to come together, although it has also been hypothesized that the lack of fusion of the sternum is secondary to the ectopia of the heart itself. In any case, the heart protrude from the defective thorax and the pericardium is missing. It is conviction of the authors that, similarly to other congenital malformations, Ectopia cordis is underestimated. Therefore, the authors prompt practitioners and farmers to submit all cases of malformed calves to allow more in depth studies, as a lot of malformations may be caused by genetic defects.

Vengono descritti sei casi di Ectopia cordis (anomalo posizionamento del cuore al di fuori della cavità toracica) nel bovino, cinque dei quali di tipo cervicale, uno sternale. La condizione, osservata in soggetti di più razze e di diverso genere, in due casi ha provocato natimortalità, in tre casi la morte nei primissimi giorni di vita, nell’ultimo vitello una sopravvivenza di un mese. Fra le specie animali, il bovino risulta quello col maggior numero di segnalazioni di Ectopia cordis, soprattutto del tipo cervicale, rappresentando, fra le altre cose, un potenziale modello per studi teratologici comparati con la medicina umana. La convinzione che i dati epidemiologici della patologia, al pari di altre malformazioni, soffrano di sottostima, motiva le sollecitazioni a veterinari ed allevatori a segnalare simili malattie malformative a centri di ricerca per favorirne gli studi. Fra le ipotesi eziologiche, infatti, non può essere taciuta quella genetico/ereditaria, fatto preoccupante nella generalizzata tendenza alla riduzione della variabilità genetica nelle razze bovine.