Abstract:
Background: Congenital cranial bone defects predispose to herniation of meninges, sometimes with brain tissue
involvement, to form a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)–filled cyst in the head. Such defects mainly results from focal
failure of neural tube closure during fetal development and has been reported in various species of domestic
mammals.
Case presentation: A one week old Ayrshire calf with a fluctuant swelling on parieto-occipital region of the
head was referred to the faculty. The calf was always lying on lateral recumbency and exhibited resistance to
deep palpation around the swelling and neck flexion. Embedded to the midline of the dorso-caudal surface of
the cyst’s wall was a hard longitudinally oriented structure. The case was diagnosed as meningocele by means
of radiographic examination. As the likelihood to full recovery was greatly reduced due to the negative impact
already meted on brain tissue by intracranial pressure, the calf was euthanized on grounds of animal welfare
and the diagnosis confirmed by anatomopathological findings which also revealed a circular bone defect in
parieto-occipital region of the skull vault and a flattened bony structure embedded to the cyst’s wall.
Conclusion: Anatomopathological findings confirmed the diagnosis as cranial bifidum with meningocele at the
parieto-occipital region of the skull vault. The presence of a bony structure embedded to the wall of meningeal sac
was rather unusual and could not be sufficiently explained. It was however thought to, most likely, represent a part
of interparietal bone that failed to get incorporated into squamous part of occipital bone as a result of the defect.
The report also highlights challenges that work against timely delivery of urgent veterinary interventions in rural
set ups of Africa and rest of the developing world, often leaving veterinarians with animal welfare consideration as
main determinant of intervention measures.
