A juvenile, male crested pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos f dom) was presented for neurologic signs suggestive of cerebellar disease. Physical examination revealed microphthalmia, erratic head movements, and ataxia. Computed tomography scan of the head and neck regions revealed 2 full-thickness skull-bone defects within the caudal portion of the cranium. The cerebellum appeared to be ventrally compressed by a homogeneous, triangular, fluid-attenuating region (0–10 Hounsfield units). A craniectomy was performed, and a presumed peripheral cerebral cyst was removed with suction and gentle dissection. No postoperative complications occurred, and the patient showed clinical improvement for 5 months after surgery. However, after 5 months, the owners elected euthanasia because of poor prognosis after finding the duck minimally responsive in a water enclosure. At necropsy, a thin-walled, epithelial structure was present in meninges and was adhered to the skull at the presumed surgical site.
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This article is published as Yaw, Taylor J., Nick D. Jeffery, Brandon Cain, Amanda Fales-Williams, and Bianca A. Zaffarano. "Removal of a presumed peripheral cerebral cyst via craniectomy in a crested pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos f dom)." Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 30, no. 3 (2016): 263-268. DOI: 10.1647/2015-099. Posted with permission.