Med. Weter. 2012, 68 (8) 498
Opis przypadku Case report
Syndactyly is a form of congenital dysostosis
cha-racterized by the fusion of two or more digits (7, 10,
16). In human medicine, syndactyly is classified as
simple or complex, complete or incomplete,
compli-cated or uncomplicompli-cated (4, 7, 10). In simple syndactyly,
adjacent fingers are joined by skin and fibrous tissue.
Complex syndactyly is marked by fibrous tissue
deformation and the fusion of the bones of adjacent
digits. Syndactyly is classified as incomplete when
adjacent fingers or toes are not connected through their
entire length, whereas in complete syndactyly, the skin
and/or the bones are joined all the way to the tip of the
finger (4, 7, 10). Complex syndactyly is referred to as
complicated when it is associated with other
abnor-malities, such as cleft palate. Uncomplicated complex
syndactyly is observed when no other abnormalities
are reported (10).
Case description
The patient was a seven-year-old un-neutered male cat of the European shorthair breed affected by a deformation of the hind limbs and lameness that persisted over a period of six years. The mother had not been diagnosed with limb deformations and her vaccination history remained unknown. Limb deformations were not observed in the remaining cats from the litter (2 females and 1 male). The patient moved by holding the sacral region of the spine slightly below the lumbar section, creating the impression of a squatting gait. At around 1 year of age, the patient developed a limp in both pelvic limbs; this abnormality was more pronounced in the left limb. The above resulted from the absence of claw scratching, in particular in the left limb where claws grew at a faster pace, curling and
digging into the finger pad. The patient experienced acute pain and would not allow pelvic limb digits to be touched, therefore the claw correction procedure was performed with premedication. At the place of contact with the claws, the skin was inflamed and marked by reddening, swelling and brown-colored purulent discharge with intensive odor. Over a long period of time the cat had been treated with anti-biotics (amoxicillin, amoxicillin with clavulanic acid, enrofloxacin, cefalexin), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (tolfenamic acid, meloxicam) and steroidal anti--inflammatory drugs (dexametazone). Every course of pharmacological treatment was only partially successful in alleviating digit inflammation and lameness. Due to the absence of effective pharmacological treatment, the patient was referred to the Department of Surgery and Rentgeno-logy at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn for further treatment.
An orthopedic examination of the left limb revealed an absence of interdigital spaces, the fusion of all claws and the presence of two digital pads (Fig. 1a, 1b). All digits of the left limb were connected throughout their entire length. A radiogram of the affected limb revealed incomplete fusing of the fourth and the fifth metatarsal bone, complete fusing of the first phalanx of the second digit with the first phalanx of the third digit, complete fusion of the second phalanx of the second digit with the second phalanx of the third digit, and complete fusing of the third phalanx of the second digit with the third phalanx of the third digit (Fig. 2a). The proximal end of the first phalanx of the fifth digit and the proximal end of the fourth metatarsal bone were also partially joined. The fourth and fifth digit com-prised two instead of three phalanges.
An orthopedic examination of the right limb revealed an absence of interdigital spaces between all digits and the
Syndactyly in a cat
HUBERT MATYJASIK, ZBIGNIEW ADAMIAK, YAUHENI ZHALNIAROVICH
Department of Surgery and Radiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Varmia and Masuria, 14 Oczapowskiego Street, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Matyjasik H., Adamiak Z., Zhalniarovich Y.
Syndactyly in a cat
Summary
This paper describes the case of a cat affected by complex, complete and uncomplicated syndactyly of both pelvic limbs, with digital skin inflammation that could not be treated pharmacologically and caused acute pain. The patients distal phalanges were removed surgically. The cat did not demonstrate pain symptoms four weeks after the treatment. According to the authors knowledge, this is the first case of feline syndactyly in Poland and the sixth documented case of the analyzed abnormality in the world.
Med. Weter. 2012, 68 (8) 499
presence of three digital pads (Fig. 1c). The claws of the third and the fourth digit were partially joined (Fig. 1d). A radiogram revealed fusing of the first phalanx of the second digit with the first phalanx of the third digit. The second phalanx of the third digit was completely fused with the second and third phalanx of the second digit (Fig. 2a). Due to the ineffectiveness of pharmacological treatment, the patient was referred for surgery. The cat was subjected to general anesthesia according to the following protocol: premedication with atropine sulfate (atropinum sulfuricum, Polfa, Poland) at 0.05 mg/kg body weight i.m. and xylazine hydrochloride (VetaXyl, VET-AGRO, Poland) at 1 mg/kg body weight i.m. A venous catheter was placed into the brachiocephalic vein, and general anesthesia was induced with ketamine hydrochloride (VetaKetam, VET-AGRO, Po-land) at 5 mg/kg body weight i.v.
Distal phalanges and abnormal skin tissue were removed surgically (Fig. 2b). The procedure was performed on both pelvic limbs. The wound was closed with a single interrup-ted suture using non-absorbent material, size 3-0.
Starting on the day of surgery and in the course of 10 post-operative days, the patient was administered lincomycin hydrochloride and spectinomycin sulfate (Linco-Spectin, Pfizer Trading Polska Ltd., Poland) at 10 mg/kg body weight and 20 mg/kg body weight i.m., respectively. Skin sutures were removed on post-surgical day 10.
Results and discussion
Four weeks after the surgery, the cat did not
demon-strate pain symptoms during an examination of the
treated region, and it did not recoil when the distal
phalanges of pelvic limbs were touched. No
abnorma-lities were observed in the treated area in the course of
six months after the surgery (Fig. 2c, 2d).
Syndactyly is rarely described in veterinary
litera-ture, and most observations are individual cases of
the disease in canine patients (1, 3, 6, 11-14, 17). The
disease has been described in Australian shepherds (5),
and a single case of feline syndactyly has been
over-viewed (2, 8, 9). Only two studies document multiple
cases of syndactyly in a cat shelter and in a litter of
cats (15, 18).
According to the authors knowledge, this is the first
documented case of feline syndactyly in Poland.
References
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Med. Weter. 2012, 68 (8) 500
Fig. 2
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Adres autora: lek. wet. Hubert Matyjasik, ul. Pieczewska 6/6, 10-699 Olsztyn, Poland; e-mail: hubertmatyjasik@wp.pl
