CASE REPORT

Congenital J I

in a French bulldog A. Marks, A. H. M. van den Broek and R. W. Else

123 Heathcote Road, Whitnash, Leamington Spa, Warwick- shire CV31 ZLX and Departments of Veterinary Clinical Stud- ies and Pathology, University of Edinburgh, Royal [Dick] School of Veterinary Studies, Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1QH

Iournol of Small Animal Practice (1992) 33, 450-452

ABSTRACT The occurrence of congenital alopecia in one of

a litter of four female French bulldogs is described. With the exception of the hair coat the affected bitch was clinically normal. The distribu- tion of the sparse hair (head, tip of the tail and paws) mimicked that seen in the Chinese crested dog. Histopathological examination of skin biop- sies revealed features frequently observed in con- genital alopecia - a reduction in number of hair follicles, hypoplasia or absence of epidermal appendages and pronounced follicular hyperker- atosis, abnormalities of collagen and elastic fibres were not detected.

INTRODUCTION Congenital alopecia is defined as a partial or

total absence of hair manifest at birth and due to developmental factors (Ebling and others 1986). It is occasionally accompanied by further ecto- dermal defects such as absence of other epider- mal appendages and anomalies of dentition.

Although selected in order to establish the Chi- nese crested and Mexican hairless breeds of dog, the trait of partial alopecia occurs infrequently in other breeds. It has been documented in the male pups of several breeds including the whippet (Thomsett 1961), cocker spaniel (Kral and Schwartzman 1964), miniature poodle (Sel- manowitz and others 1970, Conroy and other$ 1975), schipperke (Stogdale and others 1982), Belgian shepherd dog (Muller and others 1989), beagle (Kunkle 1984), basset hound (Chastain and Swayne 19851, bichon frise (Grieshaber and others 1986) and a female labrador pup (Kunkle 1984).

This paper reports the occurrence of partial, congenital alopecia in a five-month-old female French bulldog.

CASE HISTORY The pup was one of a litter of four bitches. Its

sparse hair was fawn while its siblings had normal hair coats which were brindle. The sire and dam had been mated successfully on three previous occasions and had produced male and female, fawn and brindle pups with normal hair coats.

At birth the pup was clinically normal except for its hair coat which was limited to a sparse covering of fawn hair on the head (between the ears), on the tip of the tail and on the paws. Its subsequent general development and health were normal.

FIG 1. Dog with congenital hypotrichosis and normal litter- mate at five months of age. Note normal body growth, hair on the head and paws and cutaneous hyperpigmentation of the affected pup

450

Congenital hypotrichosis in a French bulldog

Examination of the pup when it was five months old (Fig 1) revealed no evidence of addi- tional ectodermal defects involving dentition or nail formation. The skin was dry, rough, thick- ened and thrown into folds. A few epidermal col- larettes denoting eroded pustules were detected.

Full-thickness elliptical skin biopsies were taken from an area of sparse hair growth on the head and a completely alopecic area on the dor- sum. These were preserved in 10 per cent formal saline and submitted for routine histopathologi- cal examination as paraffin wax sections. Histo- logical sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, Martius-scarlet-blue and Gomori-alde- hyde-fuscin (GAF) for elastin.

Three years later (Fig 2) the bitch was in excel- lent health and, except for a coat in winter, its skin required no special care.

Histopathology

The skin biopsy from the head revealed a thin epidermis and relatively few primary hair folli- cles, the majority exhibiting follicular hyperker- atosis (Fig 3). Many of the acanthocytes had mild melanin pigmentation with prominent hyperpig- mentation of the hypoplastic hyperkeratotic folli- cles. Evidence of dermal hyperpigmentation was present as moderate numbers of melanophages below the follicles (Fig 3). There was a small epi- dermal pustule comprising necrotic acantho- cytes, fibrin and pyknotic polymorphs with a surface covering of compressed cornified debris at one site. This was probably the result of inci- dental or self-inflicted minor abrasion trauma. No secondary hair follicles were detected and the adnexae fie, the epitrichial [apocrine] glands and sebaceous glands) were hypoplastic. In one sec- tion there were horizontally-orientated arrector pili muscles which were well separated from adjacent short hair follicles. Some of the muscle bundles had vacuolations. No abnormal or inflammatory perifollicular cellular infiltration was seen. The dermis and underlying muscula-

FIG 2. Dog with congenital hypotrichosis at three years of age. Note otherwise normal development

FIG 3. Photomicrograph of skin section from sparsely haired area of dog with congenital hypotrichosis. Note follicular hyperkeratosis. Many of the hair follicles were poorly devel- oped with absence of hairs and only rudimentary root bulbs. Haematoxylin and eosin X 100

ture did not show significant pathological changes. GAF-stained sections showed the nor- mal content and no abnormalities of elastin in the dermis.

Examination of the skin biopsy from the dor- sum revealed a few rudimentary primary hair fol- licles with no adnexae and no evidence of inflammatory or other abnormal cellular reaction at any level.

DISCUSSION Congenital hypotrichosis, although documented

most frequently in the miniature poodle, has been reported sporadically in several different breeds. In those instances where the pedigree and breeding history of the sire and dam have been examined it appears, as in this present case, to have been an isolated event. The observation that the condition occurs more frequently in males and that in some instances male but not female siblings are affected, has led to the pro- posal of a sex-linked or a sex-limited form of inheritance (Selmanowitz and others 1970,

451

A. MARKS AND OTHERS

Conroy and others 1975). However, occurrence of congenital hypotrichosis in two females with normal sires, the present case and a labrador (Kunkle 1984), indicates that this is not the only mode of inheritance and is consistent with an autosomal recessive trait.

In reported cases of canine congenital alopecia the absence of hair is partial and may comprise areas of complete alopecia, areas of sparse hair coat or a combination of these. The distribution of these areas is generally bilaterally symmetric and commonly involves the head (face and temporal areas), pinnae, sacral area, and proxi- mal dorsal aspect of the tail and ventrum. Occa- sionally the dorsal and lateral flank areas are most severely affected. In this present case the absence of hair is more extensive than that reported previously and the distribution of the sparse hair which was present (head, tip of tail and paws). mimicked that seen in the Chinese crested dog.

Congenital alopecia represents an ectodermal dysplasia. In some cases, accompanying abnor- malities of dentition have been observed (Sel- manowitz and others 1977, Kunkle 1984). In addition, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, microphthal- mus and photophobia have been associated with this condition (Kunkle 1984, Grieshaber and oth- ers 1986). No such accompanying abnormalities were detected in this present case.

Histopathological evidence of an absence or reduction in the number of hair follicles is essen- tial to the diagnosis of congenital alopecia. How- ever, there is a considerable diversity in other histopathological features that have been observed. The present case demonstrated the more common features of congenital hypotri- chosis notably a reduction in the number of hair follicles, hypoplasia or absence of the epidermal appendages, and marked follicular hyperkerato- sis. However, less commonly documented fea- tures such as acanthosis and abnormalities of collagen and elastic fibres were not observed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would like to thank Mrs A. Leslie

for typing the manuscript.

REFERENCES CHASTAIN, C. B. & SWAYNE, D. E. (1985) Congenital hypotri-

chosis in male basset hound littermates. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 187, 845-846

CONROY, J~ D., RASMUSEN, B. A. & SMALL, E. (1975) Hypotri- chosis in miniature poodle siblings. Journal of the Ameri- can Veterinary Medical Association 166, 679-699

EBLING, F. J. G., DAWBER, R. & ROOK, A. (1986) The hair. In: Textbook of Dermatology. 4th edn. Eds A. Rook. D. S.

Wilkinson, F. J. G. Ebling, R. H. Champion and J. C. Burton. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. pp 1937-2037

GRIESHABER, T. L., BLAKEMORE, J. C. & YASKULSKI, S. (1986) Con- genital alopecia in a Bichon Frise. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 188, 1053-1054

KRAL, F. & SCHWARTZMAN, R. M. (1964) Veterinary and Com- parative Dermatology. J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia. pp 183-184

KUNKLE, G. A. (1984) Congenital hypotrichosis in two dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

MULLER, G. H., KIRK, R. W. & SCOTT, D. W. (1989) Small Ani- mal Dermatology. 4th edn. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia

SELMANOWITZ, V. J., KRAMER, K. M. & ORENTREICH, N. (1970) Congenital ectodermal defect in poodles. Journal of Heredity 61, 196-199

SELMANOWITZ, V. J., MARKOTSKY, J. & ORENTREICH, N. (1977) Black hair follicular dysplasia in dogs. Journal of the Amer- ican Veterinary Medical Association 171, 1079-1081

STOGDALE, L., BOTHA, W. S. & SAUNDERS, G. N. (1982) Congeni- tal hypotrichosis in a dog. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 18, 184-187

THOMSETT, L. R. (1961) Congenital hypotrichosis in the dog. Veterinary Record 73, 915-917

185, 84-85

ABSTRACT

Primary ciliary dyskinesia in bichon fiise littermates TWO 6.5-month-old bichon frise littermates, a bitch and a dog, had a persistent mucopurulent nasal discharge since two-days-old. Both parents and two other littermates were normal. Treat- ment by antibiotics, nebulisers and phenyl- ephrine was to no avail. There was mucopurulent discharge from each animal. In addition, the bitch was depressed and had gener- alised harsh bronchovesicular lung sounds. Two months later, a productive cough which wors- ened with exercise developed. There was markedly reduced radionuclide ciliary clearance in both animals compared to normal controls. Samples of tracheal mucosa and lacrimal secre- tions were also taken. Tracheal cilia had abnor- malities. Cytological analysis was performed on the dog’s ejaculate at 11 months. There was reduced motility and all sperms had primary abnormalities such as tightly coiled tails, coiled midpieces and proximal cytoplasmic droplets. Radiographs of the bitch showed bilateral thick- ening of the osseous bulla and increased opacity in the right nasal passage. All these results were indicative of primary ciliary dyskinesia. Despite the persistent cough and chronic rhinitis, neither animal (now four years old) requires frequent treatment to manage signs and their quality of life remains acceptable. When necessary, thera- peutic management involves giving antibiotics based on results of culture from exudates.

VADEN, S. L., BREITSCHWERDT, C. B., HENRIKSON, C. K., METCALF, M. R., COHN, L. & CRAIG, JR, W. A. (1991) Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 27, 633-639

452