Infiltrative Cutaneous Hemangiolipoma in a Goat

An approximately 4-year-old castrated male, Saanen cross goat presented to the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for evaluation and removal of a 22？cm？×？22？cm, dark red, thickened, and crusted cutaneous lesion along the left ventrolateral thorax. An initial incisional biopsy performed approximately 8 weeks earlier was suspicious for cutaneous hemangiosarcoma. Surgical excision was deemed to be the most appropriate treatment option for this goat. A complete physical exam, complete blood count, and chemistry profile were performed and results were within normal limits. Thoracic radiographs and abdominal ultrasound were performed to rule out metastatic disease and comorbid conditions; no metastatic lesions or other abnormalities were observed. En bloc surgical excision of the affected skin was performed and the entire tissue was submitted for histopathology. A final diagnosis of cutaneous hemangiolipoma was reached upon extensive sectioning and histologic examination of the larger tissue specimen. The goat recovered well from surgery and has had no further complications up to 9 months postoperatively. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a hemangiolipoma in a goat and surgical excision for such lesions appears to be a viable treatment method. 1. Introduction Angiolipomas are rare tumors of endothelial cells that have been documented in both humans and animals [1–3]. These lesions are usually circumscribed masses of neoplastic endothelial cells that form well-differentiated vascular spaces and are supported by abundant adipose tissue. Angiolipomas may be categorized into hemangiolipomas or lymphangiolipomas based on whether or not the proliferating vascular spaces contain blood cells or lymph fluid. In humans, hemangiolipomas have been reported in the subcutis of the thorax, spine, gastrointestinal tract, and bone [4–6]. In dogs, individual case reports exist of angiolipomas arising in skin, bone of the spinal canal and parotid salivary gland [3, 7, 8]. A pericardial hemangiolipoma was reported in one bull [9]. Cutaneous hemangiolipomas have not been previously reported in goats. 2. Material and Methods An approximately 4-year-old, 100？kg castrated male, Saanen cross goat presented to the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) for evaluation and removal of a large cutaneous lesion along the left ventrolateral thorax. The lesion was first noted 1.5 years earlier and was thought to have started as irritation from a pack saddle. The lesion was not pruritic or painful; however, its location interfered