SPONTANEOUSLY ARISING DISEASE Prune Belly Syndrome in the Pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) N.Martı´n-Alguacil * and L. Avedillo † *Departmental Section of Anatomy and Embryology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro s/n and † Private Practitioner, Clı´nica Veterinaria Salud Animal, Gri ~ n  on, Madrid, Spain Summary Prune belly syndrome (PBS) is a rare multisystemic disease characterized by a deficiency of abdominal wall musculature, urinary tract anomalies and bilateral intra-abdominal testes. PBS in females is called pseudo prune belly syndrome (PPBS) and is characterized by abdominal wall laxity and urinary tract defects. We report three male and one female stillborn piglets with abdominal distension, hypoplastic abdominal wall musculature and urinary tract anomalies. Bilateral cryptorchidism was observed in the males. In addition, two males showed anomalous liver lobulation, one of them had an anomalous spleen and the other an atrial septal defect. As far as we know, neither PBS nor PPBS have been reported in veterinary literature until now. Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: congenital anomaly; pig; prune belly syndrome; pseudo prune belly syndrome The syndrome known as ‘prune belly’, ‘triad’ or ‘pot belly’, consisting of abnormal development of anterior abdominal musculature and a variety of other congen- ital anomalies, has been known for over a century (Adebonojo, 1973). The initial report by Frohlich (1839) did not mention any associated anomalies. The first association with urinary tract anomalies was made by Parker (1895). Prune belly syndrome (PBS) is defined in human medicine as an association of abdominal wall deficiency, genitourinary anomalies and cryptorchidism in males. Although PBS is more common in males, females can also have the condition. In both sexes, expression of the disease is often incom- plete. Males with partial or unilateral abdominal wall deficiency, or with only unilateral undescended testis, as well as female neonates with abdominal wall laxity are classified as ‘pseudo prune belly syndrome’ (PPBS) or partial PBS (Donnelly and Johnson, 1995; Grover et al., 2017). There is wide variability in disease severity as PBS is not infrequently accompanied by cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal or musculoskeletal anomalies (Smolkin et al., 2008; Hassett et al., 2012). The incidence in human medicine of PBS is 3.8 cases/100,000 live births (Routh et al., 2010). The aim of this study was to present a detailed comparative anatomical description of this malfor- mation in male and female pigs, and in man, showing both similarities and differences in presentation. By summarizing the features of previous case reports of PBS in man and comparing these with the character- istics of the present cases, this report adds definition of the syndrome into veterinary medicine. All malformations included in this study were found sporadically between 2002 and 2018. Animals were obtained from a swine farming association from Toledo (Spain), which includes 15 pig produc- tion facilities, with an annual average census of 6,500 breeding sows in close-production cycle. One fe- male (P39) and three males (P109, P213 and P279) (Landrace, large white, Pietrain) presenting with anomalies suggestive of PBS were selected for the study. All piglets were stillborn and were the only abnormal members of their litters. The study was con- ducted in the Laboratory for the Study of Congenital J. Comp. Path. 2020, Vol. 174, 81e85 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect www.elsevier.com/locate/jcpa Correspondence to: N. Martı´n-Alguacil (e-mail: nmartina@ucm.es). 0021-9975/$ - see front matter Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcpa.2019.11.004