Abstract:
A six-year-old intact male Southern African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis) presented with a history of chronic mild to moderate
weight loss, and sub-acute hind limb ataxia that progressed to complete paralysis, at which point the hedgehog was euthanised.
At autopsy, a large multinodular pale mass had completely replaced the left testicle and transcoelomically metastasised to the
diaphragm and the peri-renal area, from where it then invaded the vertebral column and spinal cord. Multifocal, irregular to round,
well-demarcated, blood-filled, proliferative lesions were also present in the hepatic parenchyma. Histological analysis of both the
testis and metastatic lesions revealed diffuse sheets of neoplastic cells with moderate pale cytoplasm, large irregular to round
nuclei and mostly one prominent magenta nucleolus, consistent with metastatic seminoma. The neoplastic cells were negative for
periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) stain and positive for CD117 by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Taken together with the morphology of
the neoplastic cells and the advanced age of the animal, this is suggestive of a spermatocytic seminoma. Histological analysis of
the liver revealed multifocal lesions consisting of large anastomosing blood-filled spaces bordered by compressed hepatocytes,
consistent with hepatic peliosis. This is the first report of a neoplasm in the Southern African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis), the
first report of a metastatic seminoma in a hedgehog, together with diagnosis of spermatocytic subtype, and the first report of a
hedgehog with concomitant hepatic peliosis.
