Primary oesophageal SCC in a cat with bradycardia and hypercalcaemia.

What is it about?

An adult male domestic shorthair cat was presented for vomiting and anorexia, with a 3-month history of weight loss. Bradycardia was documented during physical examination and was diagnosed as sinusal by electrocardiography. Blood electrolytes analysis revealed a marked ionized hypercalcaemia. Thoracic radiographs revealed a large soft-tissue opacity at the level of the distal oesophagus. Subsequent thoracic ultrasonography and oesophagoscopy confirmed the presence of a tissue mass infiltrating distal oesophagus, oesophago-gastric junction and neighbouring tissues. After biopsy and histopathological analysis, a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was diagnosed. Sinus bradycardia was assumed to be related to an increased vagal tone due to the close proximity of the vagal nerve with the infiltrative lesion or, less likely, severe hypercalcemia. This case describes an atypical clinical presentation of a SCC in an uncommon location. Furthermore, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of hypercalcaemia associated with oesophageal SCC in a cat.

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Photo by Sabri Tuzcu on Unsplash

Photo by Sabri Tuzcu on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This report provides a description of an oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, an exceedingly rare condition in the feline species. Diagnostic imaging findings, necropsy and histopathological analysis are provided and match, by some aspects, the few previously published cases. However, in addition to an unusual clinical presentation (vomiting and sinusal bradycardia), one original feature of this case is the observation of a paraneoplastic hypercalcaemia. Although it has been well described in humans with this condition, this has not been reported in cats so far.