EXPRESS: Feline nasopharyngeal salivary gland hyperplasia
Tèmi Ogundimu, Esteban Gonzalez-Gasch, Jessica Sumping, Marvin J Firth, Isabel CalvoCase Summary
A 12-year-old neutered female, domestic shorthair cat was referred for further investigation into acute onset of increased upper respiratory noise of one month duration. On physical examination, inspiratory stertor was present with mild increased respiratory effort and airflow was reduced from the left nasal passage. Computed tomography identified a caudal nasal/rostral nasopharyngeal mass. A rostral staphylectomy was performed to remove the lesion and histopathological analysis confirmed salivary gland hyperplasia . Ten months post-operatively the owner reported the cat had a good quality of life and absence of the upper respiratory noise.
Relevance and novel information
To the authors’ knowledge this is the first description of nasopharyngeal salivary gland hyperplasia in a cat. Although uncommon, it should be recognised as a potential differential diagnosis for nasopharyngeal mass-like lesions in feline patients.