Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood breakdown and ferritin in spinal fluid of dogs with acute back
By Bittermann, Sophie et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2019·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Analysis of blood degradation products and ferritin in the cerebrospinal fluid of dogs with acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disk extrusion, a prospective pilot study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old Dachshund was brought in for weakness in the back legs and difficulty walking due to a herniated disc in the spine. Tests showed high levels of certain blood breakdown products in the cerebrospinal fluid, which indicated bleeding in the spinal canal. The dog received treatment, and those with higher levels of ferritin (a protein that stores iron) had better recovery outcomes. While the study suggests that measuring these substances could help assess the severity of the condition, more research is needed to confirm their usefulness in predicting recovery.
People also search for: dog herniated disc treatment · Dachshund back leg weakness · spinal cord injury in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hemorrhage in the spinal canal leads to further damage of the spinal cord influencing outcome in dogs with intervertebral disk (IVD) extrusion. The aim of the study was to evaluate blood degradation products and ferritin in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of dogs with thoracolumbar IVD extrusion, and their association to clinical parameters and MRI findings. RESULTS: In the CSF of dogs with IVD extrusion, both net oxyhemoglobin absorption (NOA) and net bilirubin absorption (NBA) were significantly higher compared to the control groups of dogs with steroid responsive meningitis arteritis (SRMA) and idiopathic epilepsy (IE) (P < 0.001), but NOA compared to the idiopathic epilepsy group contaminated artificially with blood (IEc) was not (P = 0.890). Ferritin concentration was significantly higher in dogs with IVD extrusion compared to dogs with IE (P = 0.034), but not to dogs with SRMA (P = 0.526). There was no association between NOA, NBA or ferritin concentration and severity or duration of clinical signs. In dogs with a higher ferritin concentration the outcome was better (P = 0.018). In dogs with evidence of hemorrhage on MRI, NOA and NBA were significantly higher (P = 0.016, P = 0.009), but not ferritin (P = 0.0628). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Quantification of blood degradation products and ferritin in the CSF of dogs to assess subarachnoidal hemorrhage is feasible; however, larger case numbers are needed to evaluate the relevance of NBA and ferritin as prognostic indicators.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31088486/