Hemocromatose em tucano - Ramphastos toco - Relato de caso Hemochromatosis in toucan - Ramphastos toco - case report

Hemochromatosis is a disease caused by excess iron in the body. This will accumulate in the tissues, and its direct action releases free radicals that cause tissue damage which, if untreated, may progress to dysfunction of systems to lead to death. The cause of the disease is related to ingestion of diets with high iron foods that potentiates the intestinal absorption of iron, and genetic disorders have some animals where the iron absorption in the duodenum is favored constantly. Among the species predisposed to this picture is the toucan Ramphastos toco, which was received in the pathology laboratory of the veterinary hospital Ricardo Alexandre Hipller to be necropsied. It was an animal in captivity who had sudden death. In addition to this clinical sign characteristic of patients with hemochromatosis, the animal showed mild cardiomegaly and hepatomegaly. And under the microscope there was excess free iron and hemosiderosis. The diagnosis was completed when it held a special staining immunohistochemistry to identify the dye Prussian blue.