Abstract
Dicephalus, as one kind of congenital defect, is described as an abnormality of incomplete separation of heads, resulting from twinning in humans and animals. From a 4-year-old pregnant goat, a dicephalic malformed male newborn goat was born with cesarean operation. Externally, the dicephalic kid goat had a single body with duplicated heads that were of almost the same size and shape, four eyes, four ears, two mandibles, two maxillae, two forelimbs, and two hind limbs. The kid died 1 h after birth and was dissected for gross anatomical and histopathological studies. Necropsy revealed complete nasopharynx, oropharynx, laryngopharynx, and normal tongue in each head. The palates were grossly complete. It had two esophagi and two tracheas but esophagi became united before the esophageal hiatus and tracheas became united before connecting to the lung. Microscopic lesions including; vasogenic edema, status spongiosis, neuronal necrosis, vascular dilation, and hyperemia in the brains were seen. No gross or histopathological lesion was observed in the internal organs of the kid.
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Farjani Kish, G., Mohammadi, H. Congenital defect (Dicephalus) in a newborn goat: case report with literature review. Comp Clin Pathol 23, 233–236 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-013-1820-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-013-1820-7