The incidence of congenital malformations and variations in Göttingen minipigs

• Over 1700 Göttingen minipig piglets examined for congenital abnormalities.
• Descriptions and background incidences of spontaneous external and soft tissue congenital abnormalities provided.
• Data will help support the use of the Göttingen Minipig as a non-rodent species in embryofetal development studies.

Knowledge of the incidence of spontaneous congenital abnormalities is critical for the accurate interpretation of findings in teratogenicity studies in any species. In this paper, results of the examination of 1739 neonatal Göttingen Minipigs are presented. Over the 2-year period under consideration, the incidence of external and visceral malformations was less than 0.2 and 0.1%, respectively. The most common external malformations were syndactyly, limb hyperflexion, domed head and scoliosis. The most common internal malformations were undescended testes, ventricular septal defect, diaphragmatic hernia and atrial septal defects. Pentadactyly and variation in the aortic arch’s bifurcation (absent truncus bicaroticus) were the most common variations. These data will help support the use of the Göttingen Minipig as a non-rodent species in embryofetal development studies where concerns persist about the availability of background data.