Pancreas Disease V: Internal Clinical Signs

It is very important to identify and describe the clinical signs of the diseases in order to orientate the laboratory tests properly and thus give a clinical meaning of the laboratory results.

The Pancreas Disease is produced by the Salmon Alphavirus (SAV) which has had an important economic impact in Europe. Some of the most important clinical signs is the absence of feed, the presence of a yellow mucous content in the intestine and an occasional petechial hemorraging in the pyloric cecum. The main clinical sign in the chronical cases is that there is very little or no intestinal fat.

Internal Clinical Signs

The signology associated to the Pancreas Disease (PD) is described as non-specific. During the early stages of the disease the main clinical signs are the absence of feed in the digestive tract and the presence of pseudo-feces in the intestine. There were sometimes some petechial hemorrhaging on the surface of the pyloric cecum and the paripyloric fat. One of the most frequent signs, once the disease has advanced, is the absence of or the presence of very little intestinal fat. Every once in a while a fish that has a good condition factor and dies with feed in their digestive tract, the only finding has been a ruptured heart (McLoughlin and Grahm, 2007; McLoughlin et al, 2002).

In some cases the described signs were associated to circulatory problems, such as cutaneous edema, exophthalmos, and ascites. These signs are similar to what can be seen in the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), CardiomyopathySyndrome (CMS) and other diseases that cause alterations in the circulatory system. Some of the fish show a pale heart. This finding is similar to what was seen in the Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation.

Figure 1: An Atlantic salmon (Salmon salar) that has been affected by the Pancreas Disease (PD). The absence of peripyloric fat can be seen and the presence of pseudo-feces in the intestine. (Picture taken by Ruane et al., 2008).

Figure 2: An Atlantic salmon (Salmon salar) that has been affected by the Pancreas Disease (PD). You can see very little intestinal fat. (Picture taken by Dr. Turnbull in McLoughlin and Graham, 2007).

Figure 3: An Atlantic salmon (Salmon salar) that has been affected by the Pancreas Disease(PD). You can see hemorrhaging in the pyloric cecum. (Picture taken by Rodger, 2007).

Figure 4: An Atlantic  salmon (Salmon salar) that has been affected by the Pancreas Disease(PD). You can see clinical signs related to circulatory failures, hemorrhaging, ascites, and the presence of psuedo-membranes on the surface of the liver. (Picture taken by Dr. Jensen, http://www.fom-as.no/no/nyheter/45/).

La identificación y descripción de los signos clínicos de las enfermedades es esencial para la orientación correcta de los exámenes de laboratorio y dar significado clínico a los resultados de laboratorio.

Pancreas Disease es una enfermedad producida por Salmon Alphavirus (SAV) de importancia econónomica en Europa. Entre los principales signos clínicos se encuntran ausencia de alimento, presencia de contenido mucoso amarillo en el intestino y ocasionalmente hemorragias en los ciegos pilóricos. En los casos crónicos la el principal signo clínico es la escasa o ausencia de grasa visceral.

Signos Clínicos Internos

La signología asociada a Pancreas Disease (PD) se describe como inespecífica. En las etapas tempranas de la enfermedad los principales signos clínicos son ausencia de alimento en el sistema digestivo y presencia de pseudofecas en el intestino. Ocasionalmente se describe hemorragias petequiales en la superficie de los ciegos pilóricos y grasa peripilórica.  A medida que progresa la enfermedad la escasa o ausencia de grasa visceral es uno de los signos más frecuentes. Esporádicamente peces con buen factor de condición mueren con alimento en el sistema digestivo, siendo el único hallazgo la ruptura cardiaca (McLoughlin y Graham, 2007; McLoughlin et al., 2002). 

En algunos casos se describen signos asociados a disturbios circulatorios tales como edema cutáneo, exoftalmia, y ascitis, signos similares a los observados en Anemia Infecciosa del salmón (ISA), Síndrome Cardiomiopático (CMS) y otras enfermedades que causas alteraciones del sistema circulatorio. Algunos peces presentan corazón pálido, hallazgo parecido al que se observa en la Inflamación del Músculo Esquelético y cardiaco.

Figura 1: Salmón del Atlántico (Salmo salar), afectado por Pancreas Disease (PD). Se observa la ausencia de grasa peripilórica y presencia de pseudofecas en el intestino (Fotografia Ruane et al., 2008).

Figura 2: Salmón del Atlántico (Salmo salar), afectado por Pancreas Disease (PD). Se observa escasa cantidad de grasa visceral (Fotografía Dr. Turnbull en McLoughlin y Graham, 2007).

Figura 3: Salmón del Atlántico (Salmo salar), afectado por Pancreas Disease (PD). Se observa hemorragias en los ciegos pilóricos (Fotografia Rodger, 2007).

Figura 4:  Salmón del Atlántico (Salmo salar), afectado por Pancreas Disease (PD). Se observan signos clínicos relacionados con una falla circulatoria, hemorragias, ascitis y presencia de psudomembrana en la superficie del hígado (Fotografía Dr. Jensen, http://www.fom-as.no/no/nyheter/45/).