A cold-stunned, sub-adult, female loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) was found stranded in December 2012 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The turtle was treated routinely; however, she did not gain weight as expected during rehabilitation. Eleven weeks after stranding, staff noticed stertorous upper airway sounds. Oral examination revealed a unilateral laryngeal paralysis-like condition resulting in partial airway obstruction. Magnetic resonance imaging and electromyography showed abnormalities of the abductor arytenoideae muscle. Muscle and hepatic biopsies were collected for histologic and toxicologic assessment to seek an underlying cause of the disorder. The turtle did not recover from anesthesia, and necropsy revealed a large amount of hemorrhage from the liver biopsy site. Unilateral myofiber atrophy of the abductor arytenoideae muscle was the predominant histological finding.
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1 March 2016
Laryngeal Paralysis in a Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta)
Anja Reckendorf,
Kathryn Tuxbury,
Julie Cavin,
Gena Silver,
Jennifer Brisson,
Claire McManus,
Brian Stacy,
Constance Merigo,
Charles Innis
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Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery
Vol. 26 • No. 1-2
March-June 2016
Vol. 26 • No. 1-2
March-June 2016
Caretta caretta
cold-stunned
laryngeal paralysis
loggerhead
pathology
turtle