Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with seizures had successful brain surgery to remove cyst
By Nakano Y et al.·2025·Department of Neurosurgery, Japan·View original on Europe PMC →
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Original publication title: Case report: Successful surgical resection of an intracranial frontal lobe dermoid cyst in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old spayed female American Shorthair cat was brought in for frequent seizures that had worsened after changing her medication. She had been having seizures since she was 5, but they became more severe when her vet switched her from phenobarbital to other medications due to a liver issue. An MRI showed a dermoid cyst in her brain, which was causing the seizures. After surgically removing the cyst, the cat stopped having seizures for 14 months, even after stopping her medications.
People also search for: cat seizures treatment · cat brain cyst surgery · why is my cat having seizures
Abstract
<h4>Introduction</h4>Intracranial dermoid cysts (IDCs) are rarely observed in veterinary medicine, and reports regarding treatment strategies for feline IDCs are severely lacking. This report describes the surgical management of epileptic seizures caused by IDCs in a cat.<h4>Case presentation</h4>An 8-year-old, spayed, female American Shorthair cat presented with epileptic seizures. The epileptic seizures, which had developed at the age of 5 years, had been controlled by phenobarbital administration. At 8 years old, the cat contracted acute hepatitis, prompting a switch from phenobarbital to other antiseizure medications. This drug switch caused an increase in the frequency of epileptic seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a dermoid cyst as a heterogeneous intensity mass on T2-weighted images, without falx cerebri displacement. The preoperative seizures occurred more than three times a day (cluster seizures), even though the cat was administered multiple antiseizure medications. The seizures ceased after surgical removal of the dermoid cyst. The cat did not experience seizures for 14 months after surgery, even with discontinuation of antiseizure medications.<h4>Conclusion</h4>In cats, surgical removal of frontal lobe IDCs may effectively control epileptic seizures without fatal complications, thus potentially leading to a great prognosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40027356