Page 578 - The Veterinary Laboratory and Field Manual 3rd Edition

Necropsy guidelines 515

v Linearize the intestine: by gentle trac- and bread loaf. Note the colour of the lung,
tion and sharp dissection to cut the diffuse pallor indicates anaemia.
mesentery. iii Sample a section of trachea and a slice of
vi Open the proventriculus and ventricu- both lungs into formalin. Take a sample of
lus: note the content and inspect the fresh-frozen lung.
mucosa. The mucosa should be care-
fully examined as this is a common 17 Examine the musculoskeletal system.
site for nematode parasites. Sample a
strip of ventriculus and proventriculus i Carefully palpate the wing and leg bones
including the junction between the two and vertebral column. Vertebral fractures
as this is a good place to find lymphoid as a result of traumatic injury are a com-
aggregates. mon cause of morbidity in wild birds but
vii Open the intestine: note the contents can be very subtle. Any suspect lesions
and inspect the mucosa. Tie off a sec- can be excised and fixed. Following decal-
tion of intestine for bacterial culture. cification subtle fractures can be detected
The remainder of the intestine with histologically.
attached pancreas can be placed in for- ii Attempt to break a long bone. Bones
malin. should snap when broken. Any flexing or
viii Open the ceca: inspect the mucosa and bending may be consistent with reduced
sample. mineralization and be associated with
metabolic bone disease.
14 Examine the urogenital system: remove the
gonad (note the sex), adrenals and kidneys. 18 Open the skull and inspect the brain: using
Bread loaf and fix multiple sections of kid- rongeurs or scissors cut the top off the skull
ney along with gonads and adrenals. Take a as a cap. The brain can be removed from
sample of fresh-frozen kidney. the skull and fixed or the head can be fixed
15 Open the cloaca to the vent and examine the whole.
contents. In juvenile birds locate the Bursa
of Fabricius, examine and place in formalin.
The Bursa appears as a soft, tan nodular A2.6 Sample collection
mass on the dorsal surface of the cloaca.
This can be found by pulling the stump of Note that in all cases it is strongly advisable to
the distal colon ventrally. The bursa is very collect a basic set of tissues into formalin and
active in young birds but generally atrophies also to be retained frozen even if gross examina-
after 6 months of age in poultry. tion was unremarkable (see sampling checklist).
16 Examine the respiratory tract. Histology can identify significant lesions which
were not apparent grossly. This can have seri-
i Open the trachea longitudinally and ous consequences resulting in missed diagnoses
inspect the mucosa. Note the presence of if further testing is warranted but appropriate
any fluid or material in the lumen. All the tissue samples have not been retained.
way to the bifurcation (common spot for
stuff to lodge).
ii Remove the lungs from the coelomic cav-
ity using blunt dissection, palpate, inspect

Vet Lab.indb 515 26/03/2019 10:26