Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
MRI accuracy for disk extrusion surgery in Dachshunds with back pain
By Naudé, Stephanus H et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2008·Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Association of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging findings with surgical features in Dachshunds with thoracolumbar intervertebral disk extrusion.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 16 Dachshunds showing signs of back pain underwent MRI scans to locate and measure herniated disk material in their spines before surgery. The most common area affected was between the T12 and T13 vertebrae, with the herniated material often shifting to the left or right side. The MRI results were generally accurate, especially with T2-weighted images, which provided the best measurements for the length of the herniated material. After surgery, the dogs received treatment for their intervertebral disk disease and were expected to recover well.
People also search for: Dachshund back pain treatment · intervertebral disk disease MRI accuracy · T2-weighted MRI for dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences in determining the site, lateralization, and extent of extruded intervertebral disk material (EIDM), compared with surgical findings, in Dachshunds with thoracolumbar intervertebral disk extrusion (TLIDE). DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SAMPLE POPULATION: 16 Dachshunds with clinical signs of intervertebral disk disease. PROCEDURES: Preoperative T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) MRI measurements and description of the location of EIDM were compared with intraoperative measurements and determination of the EIDM position. RESULTS: The T12-13 intervertebral disk space was the most frequent site of EIDM (6/16 dogs). The EIDM lateralized with equal frequency to the left and right sides; no central extrusions were seen. There was moderate to substantial agreement (kappa, 0.59) between MRI and surgical findings for evaluation of the craniocaudal distribution of the EIDM. For measurement of the length of EIDM, the T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and STIR sequences had a mean error of -1.15, -0.38, and -1.93 mm, respectively; concordance correlation coefficients were 0.666, 0.904, and 0.458, respectively. Mean absolute errors were 2.54, 1.35, and 2.90 mm, respectively; these values did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In the thoracolumbar vertebral column of Dachshunds with clinical signs of intervertebral disk disease, MRI is a valuable technique for determining location and craniocaudal length of EIDM. Compared with T1-weighted and STIR images, T2-weighted images appeared to be more accurate and precise and are potentially more reliable for determination of the length of EIDM in those dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18312176/