Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with hind leg unsteadiness and seizures after low sodium treatment
By Ga-Won Lee et al.·Published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science·2022·Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea, CH·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Case Report: Hindlimb Ataxia Concurrent With Seizures by Presumed Osmotic Demyelination Syndrome in a Dog
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old male Chihuahua was brought to the vet after showing signs of weakness in his back legs and difficulty walking, along with seizures. These symptoms appeared shortly after the dog was treated for low sodium levels caused by a condition called hypoadrenocorticism. The vet suspected that the quick correction of the sodium levels led to a rare condition called osmotic demyelination syndrome, which affected the dog's nervous system. After starting treatment with anti-seizure medication and supplements, the dog's seizures stopped, and he regained normal movement within two weeks. He remained healthy and seizure-free for 19 months after treatment.
People also search for: Chihuahua seizures treatment · dog hindlimb weakness · hypoadrenocorticism in dogs
Abstract
A 6-year-old castrated male Chihuahua dog was presented with hindlimb paresis and ataxia. The dog had hyponatremia and was diagnosed as hypoadrenocorticism 10 days before its visit, and the neurologic signs including generalized tonic seizures and hindlimb paresis occurred 3 days after correction of hyponatremia at a referral hospital. Based on history and clinical findings, osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) secondary to rapid correction of hyponatremia was highly suspected. After administration of anti-convulsant and supplements, seizures did not occur, and gait was normalized within 2 weeks. Phenobarbital was tapered and finally discontinued after 3 months, and seizure did not recur. The neurologic signs were completely resolved and the dog continued to be free of neurologic or additional clinical signs over the 19-month follow-up period. ODS should be included among the differential diagnoses in case of any acute neurological dysfunction that occurs with episodes of rapid correction of hyponatremia. To the author's knowledge, this is the rare case report of a dog with hypoadrenocorticism and presumed ODS after rapid correction of hyponatremia leading to neurologic signs including seizures and ataxia.
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.848405