This is a subgross image of liver with a large tumor containing a blood filled cavity that has multiple sections of tapeworm larvae. A bit of the hepatic parenchyma is on the upper right. H&E-stained section.
Here are cross sections of the degenerate tapeworm larvae from the previous image. They lack detail but the calcareous corpuscles are still visible. These appear to be strobilocerci. As I understand it, this tapeworm initially forms cysticerci in the rat which then metamorphose into strobilocerci. H&E-stained section.
This image demonstrates the fibrosarcoma on the right and the interface with the extant hepatic parenchyma on the left. The neoplasm is well demarcated in this section. In others it was more directly invasive and widespread metastases were all through the abdomen. This seemed to be a case of true sarcomatosis. Implantation of bits of neoplasia directly on the serosal surfaces of the abdomen, leading to additional tumors.
A high magnification image of this neoplasm. Neoplastic cells have significant variability in size. They are generally oval to round. Mitotic figures and apoptotic cells are occasionally seen.
Here's a case you don’t see every day! A hepatic sarcoma in a rat caused by tapeworm larvae. Taenia taeniaformis infestation with chronic inflammation and spindle-cell proliferation paves the way for neoplastic transformation.
Nature is weird sometimes!
#skypath #vetpath #parasites
