Hemangiomatosis associated with osteolysis of the mandible in a dog resembling Gorham-Stout disease in humans

Abstract

A 6-month-old female German Shepherd Dog died as a result of profuse oral bleeding. At postmortem examination, the oral cavity showed visible roots of the right mandibular fourth premolar and first molar teeth and, in addition, they were very mobile and compressible. Radiographs showed a generalized radiolucency in the body of the right mandible, with evidence of resorption of the affected alveolar bone. Histologically, the lesion of the right mandible was characterized by the lysis of bony structures and a non-malignant proliferation of blood-filled vascular spaces lined by a single layer of well-differentiated endothelial cells. The clinical, radiographic, and histologic presentation of this dog is consistent with that associated with Gorham-Stout disease, a rare bone disorder in humans.