Peritoneal cestodiasis in a dog.

An unusual case of progressive abdominal distention due to massive infection with proliferating cestode larvae is reported in an imported Italian Greyhound. Cystic parasites, first detected incidentally at ovariohysterectomy, eventually infiltrated most abdominal organs and entered the pericardium. Morphologic, histologic, and electromicroscopic observations did not permit definitive identification of the parasites; however, they were not typical of the larval forms of species of either Taenia or Mesocestoides, which have been associated with this rare condition in the United States.