Stumpy's Lab Results

by **samsleopardgeckos** Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:46 am

Well finally I got Stumpys lab results off the vets and thought i'd post them on here for you all to see, while we continue to try to work out what happened.

Clinical Note-Stumpy 1x FINN Histopathology PME Cases, Tuesday 11th October 2011 by David Holah

LIVER: 1 sample recieved; 1 section examined. The architecture is normal and the hepatocytes are more or less uniform in size and staining characteristics. There is mild lipid vacuolation, but this is considered within acceptable normal limits for a captive lizard. There is no evidence of hepatocytic necrosis, no significant inflammation and no interstitial fibrosis. Pigmented macrophage aggregates (aka melanomacrophage centres) are normal in size and number, but there may be slightly more haemosiderin in sinusoidal reticuloendothelial cells ("Kupffer's cells") than usual.

INTESTINE: 1 sample recieved; 1 section examined. This was submitted as stomach, but the mucosa is that of upper small intestine rather than gastric. The architecture is normal, there is no evidence of villous necrosis or atrophy, no significant inflammation and no parasites or other pathogens are seen. The sections includes a small portion of pancreas, which is histologically normal, and the spleen, in which there is possibly slightly excessive haemosiderin.

DIAGNOSIS: Inconclusive

DISCUSSION: I am afraid that a definite cause of this gecko's death was not identified in the sections examined. There is perhaps a little more haemosiderin than i would expect in hepatic and splenic reticuloendothelial cells, suggesting the possibility of haemolysis, but there are a number of possible causes of this (e.g. systemic infections, toxicity, haemic parasites) and no cause was identified in the tissues submitted.

So now the vet is looking into everything I feed/supplement the cresties with and how I keep them in general to see if there are any clues there as to what happened.

by **Kodieh** Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:55 am

I'm sorry they couldn't find anything, Sam. I was so betting on it being something obvious from the necropsy. Sad

by **samsleopardgeckos** Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:04 am

I was hoping they would find something but to come back with nothing at all is strange. but at least my other 2 are still doing well and not showing any signs of being ill.