[Tracheal collapse in a four month old Uckermaerker heifer].

Abstract

This report describes a case of tracheal collapse in a four month old Uckermaerker heifer. The animal was born spontaneous without signs of dystocia. It was kept outside on the pasture and died in the summer at high temperatures under signs of acute dyspnea and respiratory failure. Clinical symptoms were not observed by the owner until a few hours before death. At necropsy, the middle and caudal third of the trachea was found to be collapsed due to an inward bending of the dorsal ends of the cartilage rings. The most severe luminal reduction was located in the thoracic part of the trachea approximately 5 cm cranial the tracheal bronchus. Additional pathological lesions were absent except for signs of circulatory failure (lung edema, congestion of the shock organs). Based on clinical history and pathological findings, a traumatic cause of the tracheal collapse is unlikely. However, a hereditary influence seems possible since analysis of the breeding scheme revealed inbreeding. The mother of the affected animal was mated with her grandson (inbreeding coefficient 0,125).