Canine glioma in the first year of life: 5 cases

Most canine gliomas occur in adult and aged dogs, and reports in puppies < 12-mo-old are exceedingly rare. Here we describe the occurrence of gliomas in 5 dogs <= 12-mo-old. The affected patients (4 males, 1 female) were 3-12-mo-old ((x) over bar = 6.6-mo-old). None of the dogs were brachycephalic. Clinical signs consisted of dullness (2 cases), seizures (2 cases), vestibular signs, and deafness (1 case each). All patients were euthanized. Grossly, neoplasms were pale-tan or red, soft masses in the telencephalon (4 cases) or gelatinous leptomeningeal thickening in the brain and spinal cord (1 case). Neoplasms were classified as astrocytomas (3 cases) and oligodendrogliomas (2 cases) based on histology or histology and IHC. Our findings confirm that, while exceptionally rare, canine gliomas occur in the first year of life, and are clinically, morphologically, and immunohistochemically similar to gliomas in adult and aged dogs.