Diagnosis and surgical treatment of an intracranial cyst in an alpaca cria.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A 7-day-old female alpaca was examined because of an acute onset of diffuse central neurologic deficits.

CLINICAL FINDINGS

Diagnostic imaging with CT and MRI identified an intracranial cyst occupying approximately one-third to one-half of the dorsal portion of the cranial cavity, markedly displacing the cerebral hemispheres bilaterally.

TREATMENT AND OUTCOME

Initial surgical management via trephination and needle drainage was only transiently effective at resolving the neurologic signs. Craniotomy and drainage and removal of the cyst lining resulted in a sustained improvement in neurologic status, and the cria remained clinically normal and well grown at follow-up 5 months after surgery.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

This report represented the first description of the successful treatment of an intracranial cyst in a New World camelid.