BRIEF COMMUNICATION Vaginal cavernous hemangioma with cystic ovaries and cystic endometrial hyperplasia in a dog Omid Azari & Baharak Akhtardanesh & Amin Derakhshanfar & Mohammad Mehdi Oloumi & Daruosh Vosough Received: 18 June 2009 / Accepted: 7 January 2010 / Published online: 25 February 2010 # Springer-Verlag London Limited 2010 Abstract A 10-year-old intact female German shepherd dog was presented with a chief compliant of vaginal bleeding that had become progressively heavier over a 2- week period. On clinical examination, the abdominal cavity was distended, and no wounds or masses were observed in vulva and caudal vaginal regions. Digital vaginal examina- tion and vaginoscopy had no specific findings. Abdominal ultrasonography and radiography revealed a giant soft tissue mass in caudal part of the abdomen that extended in to the pelvic cavity. A midline exploratory laparotomy was performed. On gross examination, a very huge tumor was noticed in the caudal part of the abdomen, which extended to the pelvic cavity, right behind the cervix. On the other hand, uterine vessels were engorged obviously, and both ovaries had a multicystic appearance. Surgical excision of the mass, cystic ovaries, and uterus was performed. Histopathological studies revealed the complex of vaginal hemangioma with luteal ovarian cysts and cystic endometrial hyperplasia (CEH). Vaginal hemangioma is extremely rare in dogs, and to the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of a synchronous vaginal hemangioma with ovarian cyst and CEH in dogs. Keywords Vaginal hemangioma . Cystic endometrial hyperplasia . Cystic ovary . Dog Introduction Vaginal and vulvar tumors account for 2.5% to 3% of all canine tumors, whereas 70% to 80% of these tumors are benign. Leiomyomas are the most common benign tumor in vagina, and leiomyosarcoma is the most common malignant tumor (Purswell 2006). Hemangioma, a benign vascular neoplasm or a congenital malformation, is a proliferation of endothelial cells (Lee et al. 2008). It commonly involves skin and subcutis of dogs; however, it is rarely reported in genitalia (Lee et al. 2008; Miller et al. 2007). The average age of the affected dogs with vaginal and vulvar tumor is assumed about 11 years, and 65% of these dogs are intact females (Robbins 2003). The primary causative defect in hemangiogenesis is still unknown (Marchuk 2001). Growth factors and hormonal and mechanical influences have been claimed to affect the abnormal proliferation of endothelial cells in hemangioma. Surgical excision and ovariohyster- ectomy are the choice treatment for vaginal tumors (Robbins 2003; Fossum et al. 2002; Purswell 2006). Cystic endometrial hyperplasia, which is a dioestral syndrome in bitches, assumed to be caused by hormonal disturbances and changes in endometrial steroid hormone receptor levels (Kim and Kim 2005). It has been reported that progesterone and its derivatives may increase cystic endometrial hyperplasia (Munson et al. 2002; Kim and Kim 2005). Histologically, cystic dilated glands are observed in the endometria (Kim and Kim 2005). It was speculated that luteal cysts might be associated with cystic endometrial hyperplasia or pyometra. These cysts may be formed with no clinical sign and incidentally found during routine ovariohysterectomy or laparotomy (Stone 2003). Incidence of hemangioma in genital tract of female dogs is extremely rare, and there is only one record (Miller et al. 2008). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of a O. Azari (*) : B. Akhtardanesh : M. M. Oloumi : D. Vosough Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran e-mail: omidazari@mail.uk.ac.ir A. Derakhshanfar Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran Comp Clin Pathol (2010) 19:413–416 DOI 10.1007/s00580-010-0960-2