Meningial blood vessel calcification in the brain of the cat

Mineralization in the wall of central nervous system blood vessels is sporadically encountered in aged horses and cattle as in man, generally as an age-related change. This phenomenon has not to date been located in the meninges in dogs or cats. The present study reports a retrospective histological examination of 50 feline brains from 40-day- to 13-year-old cats. Histological examination using routine staining techniques (hematoxylin and eosin, Luxol fast blue-periodic acid-Schiff) and special stains (Von Kossa and Pearl's method) showed substantial blood vessel calcification (BVC) in 29 cases which, except for 1 case, was present only in the leptomeninges. In 72% of cases BVC was not related to nervous tissue lesions. For this reason it was considered an incidental finding, producing no morphological or clinical signs. However, BVC should not be considered merely an age-related finding since it is also quite common in very young animals (35%), suggesting that its pathogenesis needs to be investigated further and compared to BVC observed in children affected by acquired immune deficiency and idiopathic arterial calcification.