Cerebral astrocytoma in a sheep

Astrocytoma as one of the most common central nervous system (CNS) tumors is rarely reported in veterinary literature. A 7-year-old Persian Lori-Bakhtiari ewe was presented to the clinic with a two months history of progressive blindness, nystagmus to the right, bilaterally decreased pupillary reflexes, head pressing and paddling. At necropsy, a whitish well-circumscribed mass with dimensions of 3.50×2.50×1.50 cm was observed in the dorsal parietal lobe of the left cerebral hemisphere. Microscopically, the mass was well-circumscribed and highly cellular, consisted of round to elongated cells with scant and vacuolated cytoplasm with few, flaccid processes. The nuclei were round to oval with densely stippled chromatin and indistinct nucleoli. Immunohistochemical analyses showed positive staining for vimentin, S100 and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Definitive diagnosis of cerebral protoplasmic astrocytoma was made on the basis of the histopathological and immunohistochemical findings. This type of neoplasm should be included in the differential diagnosis of CNS lesions in the sheep.