Repro 3

Question 1

define the following: early embryonic death, abortion, stillbirth, non viable neonate

Answer 1

EED: death up to 35-45 days postconception in large animals, 20 days in dogs and cats
abortion: expulsion of the fetus prior to the time of viability
stillbirth: expulsion of a dead fetus at the time of viability
non viable neonate: delivery of a live, weak born animal

Question 2

is it easy to diagnose something based on fetal loss?

Answer 2

NO! reaching a definitive diagnosis is the excpetion, not the rule

Question 3

fetal loss is a combo of what 3 factors?

Answer 3

maternal disease, fetal diease, and placental disease

Question 4

what makes it easier to diagnose a cause for fetal loss?

Answer 4

if there is an outbreak of an infectious agent, if the cause is infectious, if the fetus is fresh, and if the placenta is included

Question 5

in most species the common known causes of fetal loss are ______, with the exception of?

Answer 5

infectious
horses are unique because they have a lage number of non infectious causes of fetal loss

Question 6

what are some unique features of horses that cause fetal loss?

Answer 6

twinning, inadequate villus development, premature placental separation, body pregnancy (not enough placenta to go around), umbillical cord anomalies

Question 7

list some examples of bacterial, viral, and protozoal causes of fetal loss. which ones are NOT zoonotic?

Answer 7

bacteria: brucella, camplyobacter, chlamidyia, leptsospira, listeria, salmonella, NOT ZOONOTIC: mycoplasma, ureaplasma
viruses: herepesviruses and pestiviruses (not zoonotic)
protozoa: toxoplasma gondi, NOT ZOONOTIC: nespora caninium

Question 8

what will you see in a fetus if it has been infected with a herpesvirus?

Answer 8

multifocal small white foci of necrosis commonly in the liver but can be found everywhere, intranuclear inclusion bodies on histo

Question 9

what would you see in a fetus that has been infected with a pestivirus like BVD or classical swine fever in pigs?

Answer 9

fetal death or persistent infection or fetal malformation (often CNS), depending on the virus

Question 10

this is the liver of a fetus. what do you suspect?

Answer 10

infection with a herpesvirus

Question 11

this is a fetus brain. what could cause this?

Answer 11

infection with a pestivures or parvoviruses (cereballar hypoplasia)

Question 12

what is the most common oute of infection of the placenta in ruminants and in hoses?

Answer 12

ruminants: hematogenous spread
horses: asceding infection due to loose cervix

Question 13

once placentitis is esablished, organisms can do what 3 things?

Answer 13

1. penetrate the aminion and colonize the skin of the fetus
2. inhale or ingest contaminated amniotic fluid
3. spread thu umbillical vessels to the liver and hematogenously spread thru fetus

Question 14

what are your 6 steps in diagnosing fetal loss?

Answer 14

1. exaine the placenta for any abnormalities
2. external examination of the fetus for evidence of fetal distress, congenial abnormalities, or skin lesions
3. estimate the gestational age of the fetus
4. determine the state of preservation at the time of expulsion
5. determine if it was stillborn or a nonviable neonate
6. do a routeine necropsy of the fetus

Question 15

what is this?

Answer 15

a normal ruminant placenta

Question 16

you see this during your examination of a placena. what is this?

Answer 16

amniotic plaques, they are foci of squamous epithelial cells and they are NORMAL, incicental finding

Question 17

this is a cow placenta. what is this showing?

Answer 17

adventitial placentation, to compensate for inadequate placentomes, a NORMAL and INCIDENTAL finding (not placentitis)

Question 18

you find this in a horse placenta. what is it?

Answer 18

a hippomane, collection of sediments, completely normal

Question 19

when you see intercotyledonary and cotyledonary placentitis, consider what

Answer 19

bacterial and fungal causes first, esp brucella species, wear gloves!!

Question 20

this is a bovine placenta. what is shown here?

Answer 20

necrotizing intercoyledonary and cotyledonary palcentitis caused by bacillus licheniforms

Question 21

if you have an exaggerated cotyledonary cupping and a leathery appearance and infarction in a placenta, what should you suspect?

Answer 21

mycotic placentitis

Question 22

this is a bovine placenta. what is shown here?

Answer 22

mycotic placentitis

Question 23

if you have a cotyledonary placentitis with pinpoint foci of necrosis and mineralization you should think of

Answer 23

protozoal infection, esp toxoplasmosis in small ruminants

Question 24

this is a sheep placenta. what do you suspect?

Answer 24

a protzoan infection with toxoplasma gondii

Question 25

what is the cervical star in mares? why is it significant?

Answer 25

where the fetus should be exiting and there's no nilli there so there's also no endometrium there. the horse cervis is loose so placentitis is the most severe adjacent to the cervical star

Question 26

this is a mare placenta. what is shown here near the green star?

Answer 26

bacterial placentitis, fibrin, edema, necrotic debris, the green star is the cervical star

Question 27

the umbillical cord should be how long normally? in horses, what can happen if the umbillical cord is longer than this?

Answer 27

normally ,83cm, no more than 3-4 twists long cords are prone to torsion which is a common non infectious cause of equine abortion

Question 28

this is a horse fetus. what likely killed this fetus?

Answer 28

umbillical torsion due to long umbillical cord. you can see the congestion and edema

Question 29

what is meconium and why is it important?

Answer 29

essentially it is babie's first poo poo. when a fetus is distrssed from intrauterine hypoxia, meconium is released into the amnion and the fetus gasps/gulps and aspirates/ingests amniotic fluid into the lungs and abomasum respectively

Question 30

what is wrong with this fetus besides the fact that it is dead

Answer 30

it has meconium staining on it's skin, indicating fetal distress

Question 31

this is the trachea of a fetus, what does this tell you?

Answer 31

there is meconium in the trachea indicating fetal distress, the fetus has aspirated it into the lungs

Question 32

what can happen if a calf get's stuck halfway through the birth canal? (dystocia)

Answer 32

there will be reduced venous and lymphatic drainage, leading to edema, congestion, and hemorrhage of the head and tongue

Question 33

if you see fetal dermatitis or hyperkeratosis, what does that indicate?

Answer 33

a mycotic infection

Question 34

this is a fetus head, what does this tell you?

Answer 34

mycotic infection of the fetus skin

Question 35

why do we want to figure out the gestational age of a fetus when looking for a diagnosis?

Answer 35

different things kill fetuses at different points in gestaion, for example, neospora caninum will infect and cause abortions in calves mid gestation

Question 36

why do we care about finding out the state of preservation at the time of expulsion of a fetus?

Answer 36

can suggest the type of condition

Question 37

describe the difference between a fetus dying suddenly and a fetus dying slowly and how you would be able to see that

Answer 37

if a fetus dies suddenly, it doesn't have time to signal to the cow and they remain in utero to cook for a while, when they are expulsed they are mummified and autolyzed if a fetus dies slowly, it has time to initiate partution and they are expelled immediately and may be born dead or weak, but they are fresh at the time of expulsion

Question 38

a fresh fetus is typical of what?

Answer 38

chronic disease and may be small for it's age

Question 39

an autolyzed fetus indicates what?

Answer 39

rapid fetal death usually from viremia, septicemia, or protozoal infections

Question 40

if a fetus looks like this, what does this tell you about how it died?

Answer 40

it autolyzed so it died suddenly, from viremia, septicemia, or protozoal infection

Question 41

if you have a mummified fetus, what does this tell you about how it died?

Answer 41

bacteria must be absent, aka no bacterial infections can be viruses or protozoa still though, or even twinning

Question 42

viruses such as parvo and enterovirus cause what in pigs?

Answer 42

stillbirth, mummifcation, embryonic death and infertility (SMEDI)

Question 43

if you have a fetus that is macerated, what does this tell you about how it died?

Answer 43

bacterial infection is required for this to happen, so either the bacteria killed the fetus or the cervix was open and there was an ascencding infection

Question 44

how can you tell between a stillborn fetus and a nonviable neonate fetus (aka, how can you tell if it was dead when it was born or if it died shortly after birth)

Answer 44

if the lungs are airated, the baby was alive and took a breath so it would be a nonviable neonate and not a stillborn if there is hemorrhage, this means the baby was alive (dead animals do not bleed), so it would be a nonviable neoante and not a stillborn

Question 45

what can cause goiter in a fetus?

Answer 45

iodine deficient diet, goiterogenic substances in the diet, genetic

Question 46

what does it mean if the fetus you're necropsying has a hemorrhagic tracheal cast? what about a fibrinous tracheal cast?

Answer 46

hemorrhagic cast: pathognomonic for trueperella pyogenes abortion in cattle fibrinous cast: pathognomonic for equine herpesvirus 1 infection in mares

Question 47

why should you always get a sample of the fetus' lungs in a fetal necropsy?

Answer 47

the lungs are reflective of the amniotic environment and you will see a lot on histo even if you see nothing grossly

Question 48

what is miliary hepatic necrosis?

Answer 48

where the liver looks like it's been sprinkled with snow, indicitave of viremia or septicemia

Question 49

in small ruminants, targetoid hepatic necrosis in a fetal liver is typical of

Answer 49

campylobacter infections

Question 50

if a fetus has been infected with cache valley virus, what will they look like?

Answer 50

arthrogryposis (joint stiffness), and deformities of the spinal column and CNS

Question 51

why do we want a sample of the brain to look at under histo in a fetus?

Answer 51

it is the target organ in protozoal infections