Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
DAO is a hybrid research journal on all aspects of disease phenomena in aquatic organisms.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02672
copiedHeart pathologies in dolphins stranded along the northwestern Italian coast
- F. E. Scaglione
- E. Bollo
- P. Pregel
- L. Chiappino
- A. Sereno
- W. Mignone
- R. Moschi
- F. Garibaldi
- C. Tittarelli
- F. Guarda
ABSTRACT: Nine striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba and 1 bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus stranded along the Ligurian Sea coast of Italy were necropsied between February 2011 and April 2012. Macroscopic and histological findings were observed in the hearts of all animals and included saccular aneurysms of the pulmonary trunk (n = 3), cirsoid aneurysms (n = 1), right ventricular dilation (n = 1) associated with hypoplasia of the tricuspid chordae (n = 1), valvular fibrosis (n = 3), mitral leaflet thickening (n = 1), left ventricular hypertrophy (n = 1), lymphocytic myocarditis (n = 1), and Lambl’s excrescences (n = 4). To our best knowledge Lambl’s excrescences, aneurysm of the pulmonary trunk, and cirsoid aneurysms have not previously been described in marine mammals, and some of these findings should be taken into account as possible causes of dolphin morbidity, mortality, and stranding.
KEYWORDS
F. E. Scaglione (Co-author)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
E. Bollo (Co-author)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
P. Pregel (Co-author)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
L. Chiappino (Co-author)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
A. Sereno (Co-author)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
W. Mignone (Co-author)
- Istituto Zooprofilattico del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Sezione di Imperia, 18100 Imperia, Italy
R. Moschi (Co-author)
- ASL 1 imperiese, Bussana di Sanremo, 18038 Sanremo, Italy
F. Garibaldi (Co-author)
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi di Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
C. Tittarelli (Co-author)
- Istituto Zooprofilattico del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Sezione di Imperia, 18100 Imperia, Italy
F. Guarda (Co-author)