Nasal peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor in a heifer: case report

Abstract

This report described the clinical signs, pathological and immunohistochemical findings associated with a peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (pPNET) in the nasal cavity of a heifer. The heifer exhibited severe breathing difficulty and dysphagia, which were increased over the last thirty days. At autopsy, a large, firm, and whitish mass was found occupying the left frontal sinus and most of the left nasal cavity. Histologically, a malignant neoplastic proliferation was observed, which was composed of small cells typically arranged in nests and mantles, occasionally arranged in palisade, interspersed with moderate connective stroma. The neoplastic cells exhibited strong immunoreactivity to synaptophysin, mild, multifocal immunoreactivity to neuron-specific enolase and vimentin immunoreactivity, with moderate, and multifocal immunoreactivity S-100 protein. These findings suggest that pPNETs should be included in the differential diagnosis of proliferative and obstructive lesions in the nasal cavity of young cattle.