Prune belly-like syndrome in two calves

This paper reports two cases of abdominal muscular hypoplasia in new born calves, induced by the presence of intra-abdominal space-occupying malformations, and associated to other congenital disorders. In the first case, the calf presented slack dilated and floating abdomen associated to a small intestine with remarkably dilated sections (up to 10 cm of diameter) alternated with normal tracts, arthrogryposis of the anterior limbs, coxofemoral joints laxity and cryptorchidism. In the second case, abdomen of the calf appeared severely outstretched, with slack and floating wall, associated to 2 cystic dilations on the liver surface. These cases strongly resemble a congenital disorder of new born children known as prune belly syndrome, characterized by various degrees of abdominal muscular hypoplasia, bilateral cryptorchidism in males and urinary tract anomalies, that can be associated to other non-genital-urinary malformations affecting the gastrointestinal, skeletal and cardiopulmonary systems.