title: Subclinical lumbar polyradiculopathy, polyneuritis and ganglionitis in aged wild and exotic mammalians.
abstract: Subclinical lumbar polyradiculopathy was present in the intradural dorsal and ventral nerve rootlets of 19 aged individuals of the following wild and exotic mammalian species: woodrat, raccoon, mink, lynx, reindeer, red deer, musk ox, scimitar-horned oryx, Arabian oryx, hybrid waterbuck, Persian onager, Przewalski's wild horse, Malayan sun bear, Asian elephant, East African river hippopotamus, vervet monkey and rhesus monkey. It was characterized by mild to severe multifocal ballooning of myelin sheaths. Occasionally, ballooned myelin sheaths contained thin strands of myelin and macrophages surrounding distorted axons. Additionally, a mild incidental lymphocytic polyneuritis was present in intradural nerve rootlets of the Malayan sun bear, and a moderate lymphocytic spinal ganglionitis in the East African river hippopotamus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca 14853.
authors.forename: W I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: deLahunta
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000820:Animal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D003670:Deer; D004606:Elephants; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000473:pathology*; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008907:Mink; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000473:pathology; D009443:Neuritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011115:Polyneuropathies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011128:Polyradiculopathy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011821:Raccoons; D012053:Reindeer