Cerebellar cortical degeneration associated with feline leukemia virus
An 8-month-old male domestic cat presented with altered consciousness, symmetric ataxia, hypermetric gait, vertical positional nystagmus, mydriasis, strabismus, intention tremor of the head, and increased patellar reflexes. Neuro diagnosis suggested a multifocal brain dysfunction. The cat tested seropositive for feline leukemia virus.
Cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed mononuclear and neutrophilic pleocytosis. Multiple hypodense heterogeneous areas in both cerebral hemispheres and other abnormalities were found on contrast computed tomography.
On postmortem examination, a 1.1 × 1.3 × 1.2 cm mass in the right cerebellar hemisphere close to the vermis. Histopathological analysis showed diffuse and severe Purkinje cell loss with a decrease in granular cell density and moderate gliosis compatible with cerebellar cortical degeneration (CCD.)
Numerous neoplastic lymphoid cells were also found, which is consistent with a CNS lymphoma.
CNS lymphoma and/or Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) infection were both considered as a possible cause of CCD in this case.
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