Fibrosarcoma in the hock joint of an ostrich (Struthio camelus) - A case report

A one-year old female ostrich (Struthio camelus) was presented for surgical excision with the history of growth near left hock joint (ankle) and progressively increasing in size. The tumorous mass was surgically excised after sedation and local infiltrative anesthesia. Histopathological examination of the mass revealed a large number of fibrocytes and fibroblasts arranged in an irregular manner accompanied with high degree of neovascularisation. Few areas also showed infiltration of inflammatory cells, degenerative fibroblast cells, high mitotic figures and extensive local invasion to surrounding soft tissues. These features were indicative of clear malignancy and condition was diagnosed as a case of fibrosarcoma.