INVESTIGATION OF THE SELENIUM STATUS OF ABORTED CALVES WITH CARDIAC-FAILURE AND MYOCARDIAL NECROSIS

Lesions of heart failure, specifically cardiac dilation or hypertrophy along with a nodular liver (chronic passive congestion) and ascites, have been found in 4-5% of aborted bovine fetuses. In this study, a gr oup of 22 such fetuses was compared with groups of aborted fetuses wit hout lesions of heart failure and with nonaborted fetuses obtained fro m a slaughterhouse. The fetuses were necropsied, tissues were taken fo r histopathology, and samples were collected for routine bacteriologic and virologic examinations. Liver and kidney tissue was saved for sel enium analysis. Histopathologic examinations of myocardium of fetuses with cardiac failure revealed myocardial necrosis and mineralization i n 7 fetuses, lymphocytic myocarditis in 5 fetuses, myocardial fibrosis in 5 fetuses, or no microscopic lesions in 5 fetuses. Mean liver sele nium levels were 5.5 mu mol/kg in the fetuses with heart lesions, 6.5 mu mol/kg in the fetuses without heart lesions and 7.5 mu mol/kg in fe tuses from the slaughterhouse; these differences were statistically si gnificant. The results suggest that selenium deficiency in bovine fetu ses may cause myocardial necrosis and heart failure. This study also p rovides data on normal liver and kidney selenium levels in bovine fetu ses from the analyses of 19 nonaborted fetuses.