[Bovine neonatal pancytopenia in German Holstein calves]. / Bovine neonatale Panzytopenie (BNP) bei Deutschen Holstein Kälbern.

Profiles of blood cell counts were evaluated for 15 calves from three different farms. These calves showed petechia in the mucous membranes and in the skin and prolonged secondary bleeding after puncture. The clinical course of the disease could be observed in eleven calves. With exception of one case, the blood cell counts indicated a severe anaemia, leukocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. Out of these 15 calves, six calves survived and the other nine calves died or had to be euthanized due to the severity of the disease. Necropsy of these nine calves revealed petechia in the skin, subcutis, muscles, in inner organs and all serous membranes. Pathohistological examination showed a depletion of the bone marrow and lymphatic tissue in eight calves. These findings confirmed the diagnosis of bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) for eight of these nine calves. Bluetongue virus serotype 8 was tested negatively using PCR. Bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) was negatively tested using immunofluorescence and cell culture and salmonella species were negatively tested in seven dissected calves. A cluster of toxins was negatively tested in one of the dissected calves. All 15 calves had high antibody titres for BVDV. The BVDV-antibody titres from twelve dams with affected calves were positive in six cases and not detectable in the other six cases. In three of the six dams with not detectable BVDV-antibody titres, calves were fed with colostrum of a further dam with high BVDV-antibody titres. In the further three dams without detectable BVDV-antibody titres, we could not ascertain which colostrum has been fed to the calves. BVDV-specific antigen could not be detected in any of the samples from the calves and dams tested. Using the activity of the gamma-glutamyl-transferase, we assumed a sufficient supply with colostrum for the examined calves.The cause for the occurrence of these BNP cases was due to bone marrow depletion.The reason for the bone marrow depletion remained unclear. However, it was obvious that the BNP described here is highly likely caused by colostrum from cows with positive BVDV-antibody titres.

[Vertebral and multiple organ malformations in a black and white German Holstein calf]. / Missbildungen an der Wirbelsäule mit multiplen Organanomalien bei einem Kalb der Rasse Deutsche Holsteins.

A male black and white German Holstein calf showed a congenital, high-graded scoliosis and rotation of the thoracal spinal cord associated with shortening and fusion of multiple vertebral bodies and abnormal bending of the processus spinosus. Furthermore reduced birth weight, partial hypoplasia of the lung, excessive liver segmentation, doubled gall bladder, rectal atresia, horseshoe kidney, and uterine atresia were found. Due to the exclusion of a point mutation in exon 4 of the solute carrier family 35 (UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) transporter), member A3 (SLC35A3) gene, complex vertebral malformation (CVM) was ruled out. Conclusively, it is hypothetized that the presented case resembles a new brachyspina syndrome with a still unresolved genetic etiology.

Perosomus elumbis in a black and white German Holstein calf.

Perosomus elumbis is a rare congenital anomaly of unknown aetiology characterized by the aplasia of the lumbosacral spinal cord and vertebrae, mostly associated with multiple other malformations of the hind limbs and the urogenital and intestinal tract. This report describes a stillborn female German Holstein calf showing a complete aplasia of the lumbosacrococcygeal portion of the spinal cord and vertebral column. In addition, both hind-limbs exhibited arthrogryposis and the musculature was completely replaced by adipose tissue. Furthermore, atresia ani and recti, agenesis of one kidney, one adrenal gland, and a hypoplastic and atretic female genital tract were detected. The aplasia of the lumbosacrococcygeal spinal cord and vertebral column and the other associated malformations in the presented case of perosomus elumbis may be the consequence of a combined developmental disturbance of the caudal neural tube, notochord and paraxial and intermediary mesoderm. However, it remains unclear whether the underlying cause is due to an inherited defect or due to an unknown exogenous factor disturbing embryogenesis in a critical developmental period.

[A case of a congenital high-grade hydrocephalus internus and Dandy-Walker syndrome in a black and white German Holstein calf]. / Ein Fall von angeborenem hochgradigen Hydrocephalus internus und Dandy-Walker-Syndrom bei einem schwarzbunten Kalb der Rasse Deutsche Holsteins.

A black and white female German Holstein calf showed a highly deformed cranium. The animal was not able to stand. Further findings were bilateral strabismus divergens and negative pupillary light reflexes. Magnetic resonance imaging and pathological-anatomical examination showed that the cerebrum was replaced to a high degree by the ventricle system filled with 1.5 liters of cerebrospinal fluid. The hemispheres of the cerebellum were ruptured by the dilated fourth ventricle. In addition, the vermis and pons were missing and fluid accumulation in the subarachnoidal space extending up to the first spinal cord segments was visible. Inbreeding was not detected in the 3-generation-pedigree. No other affected calves from the same parents were known at the farm. Chromosomal abnormalities could not be detected after examination of 30 metaphase spreads using a light microscope. Infections and parasitic diseases could be ruled out for this anomaly. Very rare defect alleles might have been involved in the development of these inborn defects.

[Two rare brain malformations in black and white German Holstein calves]. / Zwei seltene Gehirnmissbildungen bei schwarzbunten Kälbern der Rasse Deutsche Holstein.

Two black and white female German Holstein calves showed malformations of the cerebrum. The first calf exhibited a cystencephaly and the second calf a meningoencephalocele. The animals originated from two different dairy farms. Both calves were sired by two unrelated sires used in artificial insemination. The calf affected by cystencephaly was lacking the corpus callosum which may had been caused the cystencephaly. Exept for a pressure atrophy, the remaining parts of the brain were macroscopically and histologically inconspicious. Histological examination of the cerebrum, brain stem and cerebellum in the second calf did not reveal specific changes. A further finding in the second calf was a unilateral anophthalmia. Both animals were affected by additional defects in the spinal column including brachyuria, duplications and fusions of vertebral bodies and rips as well as malformations of the heart such as ventricular-septal defects. Only mild clinical symptoms could be observed in both calves. The calves were not inbred and further calves affected by the identical anomalies could not be ascertained at the farms where the calves were born. Chromosomal anomalies could not be detected after examination of metaphase spreads using light microscopy.

[A rare occurrence of dicephalus, scoliosis and complex heart anomalies in a male black and white German Holstein calf]. / Seltenes Auftreten von Dizephalus, Skoliose und komplexen Herzanomalien bei einem männlichen schwarzbunten Deutschen Holstein Kalb.

In a dairy farm in Lower Saxony, a male black and white German Holstein calf showed two partially fused heads, scoliosis of the thoracal vertebral column and a high-graded dyspnoea. The animal was sired by a bull used in artificial insemination. Further affected calves were not known at this farm. The radiographic examination of the animal verified the diagnosis of a dicephalus. The pathological-anatomical examination revealed a complex malformation of the heart similar to the human Eisenmenger-complex. Several environmental causes like intoxication, rectal palpation for gestation diagnosis, infections by bovine virus diarrhoea or infectious bovine rhinotracheitis viruses could be ruled out by anamnesis and virological examinations. Thus, we supposed a hereditary background for this defect.

[Fissura pelvina with an abdominal hernia and ectopic bladder aperture in a female German Holstein calf]. / Fissura pelvina mit Abdominalhernie und ektopischer Blasenmündung bei einem weiblichen Deutschen Holstein Kalb.

A three-days-old female black and white German Holstein calf showed a high-graded enlargement of the abdomen.The animal was born at a dairy farm and it was sired by a bull used in artificial insemination.The examination of the animal showed a ventral cleft of the pelvis due to a missing closure of the pelvis symphysis. The abdominal hernia occurred in consequence of the cleft pelvis. Furthermore, the calf had an ectopic bladder aperture, but an urethra could not be found. A permanent and uncontrollable urine drip along an aperture on the hernial sack was observed. The defects were present since birth and not caused by a trauma.