Prevalence, Anatomical Distribution, and Risk Factors of Adipocytic Tumors and Xanthomas in Psittaciformes: 1096 Cases (1998-2018).

Abstract

Adipocytic tumors are mesenchymal tumors that are commonly reported in psittacine birds; however, large-scale studies evaluating their prevalence and associated risk factors are lacking. A retrospective study of adipocytic tumors in psittacine birds was performed by reviewing pathology submissions from the University of California, Davis-Drury Reavill Pathology Database, containing 26 013 submissions from psittacine birds (1998-2018). Age, sex, genus, anatomic distribution, and pathological diagnosis were collected for each case when available. The prevalence, risk factors, and association with other lipid-accumulation disorders were reported. A total of 450 cases of lipoma, 129 cases of myelolipoma, 35 cases of hemangiolipoma, 31 cases of liposarcoma, and 451 cases of xanthoma were identified. The prevalence of adipocytic tumors and xanthomas on necropsy was 1.3% (158/11 737, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-1.6). Adipocytic tumors were identified in 27 genera. Amazona (odds ratio [OR] = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.24-2.99, p = 0.004), Myiopsitta (OR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.0-5.2, p = 0.041), Melopsittacus (OR = 3.4, 95% CI: 2.1-5.5, p < 0.001), and Agapornis (OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.0-6.1, p < 0.001) had significantly higher odds of developing adipocytic tumors compared with other genera, whereas Ara had significantly lower odds (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3-0.9, p = 0.030). Age was also a significant risk factor for many types of adipocytic tumors. There was no significant association between general adipocytic tumor formation and atherosclerosis or hepatic lipidosis. Xanthomas were associated with atherosclerosis (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.01-3.51, p = 0.048), but not hepatic lipidosis (p = 0.503). On necropsy, the trunk and air sacs were the most common sites of xanthoma formation, whereas the trunk and liver were the most common sites of lipoma and myelolipoma formation, respectively.