Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with worsening spinal nerve damage after heartworm drug injection
By Moore, Sarah A et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2013·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Chronic compressive myelopathy and progressive neurologic signs associated with melarsomine dihydrochloride administration in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old male Great Dane developed worsening weakness and coordination problems in his back legs after receiving an injection of a medication called melarsomine dihydrochloride eight weeks earlier. An MRI showed that he had abscesses in his spine, which were causing pressure on his spinal cord. Despite initial medical treatment, his condition continued to decline, leading to surgery to relieve the pressure. After the surgery, he showed rapid improvement in his symptoms. The cause of the abscesses was determined to be inflammation rather than an infection.
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Abstract
A 7 yr old castrated male Great Dane presented with a history of progressive myelopathy following the intramuscular injection of melarsomine dihydrochloride 8 wk previously. MRI revealed paraspinal and epidural abscesses at the 13th thoracic (T13) and first lumbar (L1) disc space. The dog's condition worsened despite medical management, necessitating surgical decompression. Surgical decompression resulted in rapid improvement of the patient's clinical signs. Histopathologic evaluation of the lesions revealed pyogranulomatous inflammation. Cultures of fluid and tissue within the lesions were negative for bacterial growth, and no infectious organisms were visualized histologically. Melarsomine-associated neurologic signs can be chronic and progressive in nature, presumably secondary to ongoing sterile inflammation that may result in spinal cord compression.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24051262/