Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with tetanus showing nerve problems and brain scan changes
By Grant, Kylie & Long, Sam·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2023·Veterinary Referral Hospital, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Case report: A case of tetanus in a dog: cranial nerve involvement and imaging findings.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 11-year-old male Labrador cross was brought in with symptoms like facial weakness, difficulty moving, excessive drooling, and stiffness. An MRI showed changes in the brain, leading to a diagnosis of tetanus, a serious infection that affects the nervous system. The dog was treated with antibiotics, muscle relaxants, and tetanus antitoxin. Fortunately, he made a full recovery and returned to his normal self.
People also search for: dog tetanus symptoms · Labrador facial weakness treatment · dog drooling and stiffness · tetanus in dogs recovery · dog MRI brain findings
Abstract
An 11 years old male Labrador cross presented with unilateral vestibular signs, ipsilateral facial paresis, moderate obtundation, ptyalism, and paraparesis. MRI of the brain revealed diffuse, multifocal T2/FLAIR hyperintense changes throughout various regions of the brain including the medulla, midbrain, pons, thalamus and right cerebral hemisphere with mild multifocal contrast enhancement. The patient progressed to trismus with generalized increased extensor tone and risus sardonicus. A diagnosis of generalized tetanus was made and the patient was started on antibiotics, skeletal muscle relaxants and tetanus antitoxin and made a full recovery. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of canine tetanus in which the presenting signs involved cranial nerve dysfunction as well as the first report describing MRI changes in canine tetanus within the central nervous system.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38026619/