Pathomorphological assessment and diagnostics of calves’ dispepsia

The indices of morbidity and mortality of the calves from dyspepsia on the farms of Krasnoyarsk Territory were studied, pathomorphological picture of changes in the organs and tissues in the calves that died with clinical signs of toxic dyspepsia was investigated, the underlying disease was established, morphological signs pathognomonic for it, basic for postmortem diagnosis, and the complications that developed against its background, including fatal ones, were differentiated from diseases of infectious etiology. The objects of the study were the corpses of the calves aged from 4 to 15 days. The section of the corpses was carried out by the method of partial dismemberment of the organs complex. Histological examination of the tissues of the stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, lungs, myocardium, lymph nodes, spleen, and brain was carried out, the material was fixed in 10 % neutral formalin solution, the sections were made on a microtome "Technom MZP-01", stained with Ehrlich's hematoxylin and eosin, the microscopy was performed using a Levenhuk 320 microscope. The material was taken for laboratory research: stomach and the fragment of the intestine with its contents, the pieces of mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, liver, lungs; the infection was excluded in all cases. The analysis of veterinary reporting documentation of the farms for the period 2016-2019 was carried out. Average incidence rates of the calves with dyspepsia in the studied farms for the period 2016-2019 made 22.0 % of the total number of born calves, thus lethal outcome was observed in 43.5 % of sick animals, which was connected with the transition of dyspepsia to a toxic form. The results of the study of organs and tissues showed that the cause of the death of the calves was toxic dyspepsia, pathognomonic signs of which were catarrhal or catarrhal-hemorrhagic gastroenterocolitis with the presence of casein-bezor abomasum in the cavity, accompanied by serous edema of mesenteric lymph nodes, complicated by severe exicosis, general cachexia, general sharp venous stagnation, deep degenerative changes in the parenchymal organs and myocardium without the signs of inflammation, as well as the development of spleen atrophy and accidental involution of the thymus. The basis for differential pathomorphological diagnostics was the lack of the signs of generalized inflammation in parenchymal and immunocompetent organs, as well as clinical signs of intravital hyperthermia in the anamnesis. The data obtained will optimize the process of complex diagnosis of dyspepsia in calves, including differential.