Infiltrative lipoma in a blue-crowned conure (Aratinga acuticaudata)

Abstract

A 14-year-old blue-crowned conure (Aratinga acuticaudata) of unknown sex was brought to the hospital with a 3-week history of straining and vocalizing during defecation. Physical examination revealed blood and urate staining on feathers around the cloaca. A 2.5-cm subcutaneous swelling was palpated along the midline of the caudoventral abdomen. During surgical exploratory, a subcutaneous soft-tissue mass was found, which extended through the body wall musculature and into the coelomic cavity. The abnormal tissue was adhered to the cloacal serosa, causing deviation of the cloaca caudally and ventrally. The mass was excised and submitted for histopathology, and the histopathologic diagnosis was infiltrative lipoma. The surgical incision healed uneventfully, and no evidence of tumor regrowth was apparent 7 months after surgery. This is the first documented case of infiltrative lipoma in a bird.