Condylomata acuminata.

The following research article discusses the case of a 5-year-old Thoroughbred mare that had multiple wart-like lesions on her vulva and perianal areas. The study explores the diagnosis, treatment, and histopathological findings of these lesions.

Clinical Presentation

• The patient was a 5-year-old Thoroughbred chestnut mare that had noticeable growths around her vulva and perianal areas for around a year.
• The lesions were moist, wart-like, and more visible due to their white color compared to the surrounding pigmented, uninvolved skin.

Treatment

• The growths were treated with repeated topical applications of 20% podophyllin in 95% ethyl alcohol.
• This course of treatment led to a rapid reduction in the size and appearance of the warts.

Histopathological Findings

• Observation under a microscope showed several notable characteristics of the lesions that were different from normal tissue:
• There was noticeable acanthosis, which is the thickening of these skin layers.
• There were numerous instances of mitosis, which indicates active cell division and growth.
• The epidermal cells, or skin cells were significantly vacuolated, suggesting cell damage or stress.
• A chronic dermal inflammatory infiltrate was present, showing long-term immune response activity in the skin
• Interestingly, the team observed a clear absence of melanin, a skin color pigment, in the basal cell layer of the lesions. However, melanin was abundant in the normal skin cells near the lesions.
• This difference in melanin content made the contrast between the affected and non-affected skin strikingly noticeable, not just to the naked eye but also under microscopic examination.