Hamartomas in cats
From Felipedia
The differential diagnosis for any cat with progressive central nervous system signs include inflammatory disease (DIC), infectious disease (FIP, toxoplasmosis, FIV, FeLV, bacterial, rickettsial infection and cryptococcal and other fungal organisms), degenerative disorders ( lysosomal storage diseases, neuronal abiotrophies, and neuronal dystrophies), malformations, or more rarely, intracranial neoplasia.
Various vascular malformations of the central nervous system have been described in both humans and animals including hamartomas, hemangiomas, meningioangiomatosis, and arteriovenous malformations. Hamartomas are focal malformations that resemble neoplasms and are formed by disorderly overgrowth of tissue elements normally at that site. One case, by Stalin et al (2008; JFMS, 10206-211), isolated a hamartoma localised within normal cerebellar parenchyma. Several have been reported in dogs within the spinal cord, cerebrum and hypothalamus.
Hamartomas can be regarded as a link between neoplasms and malformations. The aberrant growth causes problems due to adherence to the adjacent tissue and secondary compression. It is however important to recognise them as a differential diagnosis for intracranial lesions in cats because, depending on the site of the lesion and the degree of invasiveness, surgical resection may be a viable option.
