Bovine Haematic Mummification – New Observations-Report of Two Cases

in fetal tissues and resorption of fetal fluids in a sterile uterine environment.

The dead fetus shrinks through loss of water from the tissues and mummifies.

The hemorrhage which occurs between the endometrium and placenta imparts

a reddish-brown hue to the fetus and fetal membranes. However, whether the

hemorrhage is the cause of fetal death or its sequel is debatable (Noakes et al.,

2001).

It is rather difficult to exactly ascertain the cause of fetal death in mummification.

Genetic factors have been implicated as the condition was observed to be more

common in Jersey and Guernsey breeds and occurred with high frequency in one

family of Friesian cows (Logan, 1973). Recently Ghanem et al. (2005) reported a

factor XI gene deficiency in 10 mummified fetuses. This deficiency is reported to

be involved in early stages of blood coagulation pathway and has been described

for Holstein cattle (Gentry and Ross, 1993). The patients in the present report were

HF x local crosses and it remains an intriguing speculation whether it could have

inherited the gene deficiency

It is generally, widely, accepted that induction of abortion by causing luteolysis is

the treatment of choice. Before the availability of prostaglandins, estrogens (single

or repeated doses) were used (Roberts, 1986). However, with the use of estrogen

being banned for food animals, majority of practicing veterinarians prefer a single

luteolytic dose of PGF2α; with the mummy being expelled in to 2 to 4 days

(Dobson, 2005). In the present case this mode of treatment was not considered due

to two factors. One was the possibility of existence of twins or a malformed fetus,

the second being that, if sufficient cervical relaxation is not produced; vaginal

delivery of possible twins or the anomalous fetus may become difficult. Therefore,

caesearotomy was preferred and the twin mummies were delivered. Hopper et al.

(2006) and Jonson (2009) used colpotomy for delivering the fetal mummies, but

in these cases the mummies were of small size and therefore, easily delivered by

this route. Lefebvre et al. (2009) in a retrospective study of fetal mummification

in cows not responding to PGF2α and, relieved of the condition by caesearotomy,

observed that 5 out of 14 (36%) conceived shortly after surgery, whereas no

pregnancy was recorded in PGF2α treated cows.

The fetal death in bovine haematic mummification is reported to occur any time

between 3 to 8 months of gestation and, therefore, such a fetus where ossification

of bones has already occurred, can not be resorbed. Abortion does not occur due

to persistence of the corpus luteum. With resorption of the fetal fluids and a tightly

closed cervix, the fetal mummy is indefinitely preserved in a sterile environment.

In the first case of the present report both mummified twins had a crown-rump

length of about 48cms; suggesting that fetal death occurred around six months

Theriogenology Insight: 5(1): 25-32. April, 2015

29