Spontaneous Hemorrhagic Necrosis of the Central Nervous System of Fetal Hamsters

Spontaneous hemorrhagic necrosis (SHN) has been rec­ognized in fetal hamsters examined during the last trimester of pregnancy and in newborn hamsters. In affected litters, animals are stillborn or weak at birth and are frequently cannibalized by the dam. Microscopic changes are usually most extensive in the prosencepha­lon. Symmetrical, subependymal vascular degeneration occurs, with edema and hemorrhage in the neuropil (Fig. 3.28). Intraventricular hemorrhage has been observed, and lesions may extend down the neuroaxis. There appear to be strain-related variations in suscepti­bility to the disease. SHN has been reproduced by feeding dams a diet deficient in available vitamin E and allevi­ated by vitamin E supplementation.