Ectopia cordis thoracoabdominalis in a piglet.

A congenital anomaly characterised by displacement of the heart through a ventral body wall fissure involving the thoracic and cranial abdominal regions was recorded in a female Yorkshire-cross piglet. Dissection to assess the morphology of the developmental defect and a summary review of the literature on ectopia cordis were made. This case appears to be one of only three of ectopia cordis thoracoabdominalis reported in swine.

Chorionic surface area in conceptuses from sows treated with progesterone and oestrogen during early pregnancy.

Treatment of sows with 25 mg progesterone and 12.5 microgram oestrone daily between 14 and 23 days of gestation resulted in an increase of 15% of chorionic surface area and an increase in volume of allantoic fluid when examined at 30-35 days of gestation. In contrast, there were no significant differences in chorionic surface area or allantoic fluid volume between treated and control sows examined at 46-50 days of gestation. This suggests that progesterone-oestrone treatment of the sows during early pregnancy has only a short-lived effect on development of the allantochorion.

Dose of progesterone and allantoic fluid volume in conceptuses in ovariectomised goats.

The volume and composition of fetal fluids in conceptuses from untreated goats and from ovariectomised goats in which pregnancy was maintained with a high (0-76 mg per kg body weight) or low (0-35 mg per kg body weight) dose of progesterone, were determined. The mean allantoic fluid volume per conceptus was similar in the untreated goats (77-0+/-13-49 ml) and the ovariectomised goats which received the higher dose of progesterone (81-4+/-18-24 ml) but was significantly greater in the ovariectomised goats which received the lower dose of progesterone (251-5+/-66-49 ml). The increase in allantoic fluid was associated with a rise in K+ concentration.