Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with brainstem tumor causing balance and head tilt problems
By Kirsten Landsgaard et al.·Published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science·2023·Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States, CH·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Case report: Hemangioblastoma in the brainstem of a dog
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old male American Pit Bull Terrier was brought to the vet because he had been unsteady on his feet, circling, tilting his head, and seemed dull for three weeks. After a thorough examination, the vet found signs of brain dysfunction. Unfortunately, a postmortem exam revealed a tumor in the brainstem called a hemangioblastoma, which is a type of blood vessel tumor. This case is notable because it may be the first reported instance of this type of tumor occurring in a dog's brainstem. Sadly, the dog did not recover due to the severity of the condition.
People also search for: dog brain tumor symptoms · American Pit Bull Terrier ataxia treatment · dog head tilt causes
Abstract
A 3-year-old castrated male, American Pit Bull Terrier presented to Texas A&M University due to a 3-week mixed cerebellar and general proprioceptive ataxia, circling, head tilt, and dull mentation. Neurologic examination revealed signs of vestibular and mesencephalic dysfunction. Postmortem examination revealed a 1.1 × 1 × 0.8-cm, soft, dark red, well-circumscribed, left-sided mass, extending from the crus cerebri of the midbrain caudally to the pons. Microscopically, the neoplasm was composed of a spindle-shaped interstitial population of cells interspersed between a prominent capillary network, consistent with the reticular pattern of hemangioblastoma. Interstitial cells had strong, diffuse, intracytoplasmic immunolabeling for neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and were variably positive for intracytoplasmic glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Vascular endothelial cells had strong diffuse, intracytoplasmic immunolabeling for von Willebrand factor (VWF) glycoprotein. To date, only six cases of hemangioblastoma have been reported in canines, five in the spinal cord, and one in the rostral cerebrum. Our case may represent the first canine hemangioblastoma localized to the brainstem.
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1126477