Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Doberman dog with neck bone anomaly causing limb weakness
By Ricciardi, M et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology : V.C.O.T·2015·Pingry Veterinary Hospital, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Bilateral cervical ribs in a Dobermann Pinscher.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 11-year-old female Doberman Pinscher was brought in because she couldn't walk and was showing weakness in all four legs. After a thorough examination and imaging tests, the vet found issues in her cervical spine, specifically a condition called caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy (CSM), which affects the spinal cord. During the investigation, they also discovered unusual bone growths in her neck that resembled cervical ribs, a condition more commonly seen in humans. While the report discusses these findings, it doesn't specify a treatment or outcome for the dog.
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Abstract
An 11-year-old intact female Doberman Pinscher was presented with the complaint of non-ambulatory tetraparesis. Clinical and neurological examination revealed a caudal cervical spinal cord disfunction (C6-T2 spinal cord segments). Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomographic (CT) findings of the cervical spine were consistent with caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy (CSM). During the diagnostic work-up for the cervical spine, bilateral bone anomalies involving the seventh cervical vertebra and the first ribs were found on radiographs and CT examination. The rib anomalies found in this dog appear similar to cervical ribs widely described in human medicine. In people, cervical ribs are associated with a high rate of stillbirth, early childhood cancer, and can cause the thoracic outlet syndrome, characterized by neurovascular compression at level of superior aperture of the chest. In dogs, only some sporadic anatomopathological descriptions of cervical ribs exist. In this report the radiographic and CT findings of these particular vertebral and rib anomalies along with their relationships with adjacent vasculature and musculature are shown intravitam in a dog. Specific radiographic and CT findings described in this report may help in reaching a presumptive diagnosis of this anomaly. Finally, their clinical and evolutionary significance are discussed.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25650786/