Diagnosis and surgical treatment of an intracranial cyst in an alpaca cria.

CASE DESCRIPTION: A 7-day-old female alpaca was examined because of an acute onset of diffuse central neurologic deficits.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: Diagnostic imaging with CT and MRI identified an intracranial cyst occupying approximately one-third to one-half of the dorsal portion of the cranial cavity, markedly displacing the cerebral hemispheres bilaterally.

TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Initial surgical management via trephination and needle drainage was only transiently effective at resolving the neurologic signs. Craniotomy and drainage and removal of the cyst lining resulted in a sustained improvement in neurologic status, and the cria remained clinically normal and well grown at follow-up 5 months after surgery.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This report represented the first description of the successful treatment of an intracranial cyst in a New World camelid.