Hydrocephalus and multiple cranial defects in a local cross-bred calf: A patho-morphological study

Abstract

In a cross-bred cattle, a near term calf was born dead by caesarean section with a birth defect namely hydrocephalus. A detailed post mortem investigation into the defect showed presence of eight bony defects on the left side and five on the right side of the cranium. One of them had a marked meningocele on the right side in which there was accumulation of fluid just under the skin and the meninges through a large defect in the frontal bone. The brain tissue was atrophied and spinal cord hypoplasia and right maxillary hyperplasia was evident. This was a rare case of multiple anomalies with cranial osseous malformation with a communicating hydrocephalus, meningocele, spinal cord hypoplasia and unilateral maxillary hyperplasia.