Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Signs, treatment, and outcome of young dogs with brain inflammation
By Galer, Jack et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2024·Davies Veterinary Specialists, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical features, treatment, and outcome of juvenile dogs with meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 31-week-old puppy was brought in showing signs of confusion, difficulty walking, and seizures. After testing, the vet diagnosed the puppy with meningoencephalitis of unknown cause, a serious brain condition. Treatment involved either corticosteroids alone or a combination of corticosteroids and another medication. Unfortunately, the prognosis was poor, with only about one-third of the dogs surviving beyond a few months.
People also search for: puppy seizures treatment · meningoencephalitis in dogs · dog confusion and ataxia · puppy brain disease symptoms
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The information relating to the outcome specifically for juvenile dogs with meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology (MUE) is lacking. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic findings, treatment, and outcome in a cohort of dogs with MUE <52 weeks old. ANIMALS: Thirty-four client-owned dogs. METHODS: Multicenter retrospective case series. Records from 5 referral centers were searched. Data was extracted from the medical records and referring veterinarians were contacted for survival data if this was not available from the record. RESULTS: The mean age was 31 weeks; the youngest dog was 11 weeks and 3 dogs were <16 weeks old. Altered mentation (71%), ataxia (44%), seizures (29%), and circling (26%) were the most common presenting complaints. Neuroanatomical localization was to the forebrain (38%), multifocal (35%), brainstem (18%), and cerebellum (12%). Corticosteroid monotherapy (n = 15) and corticosteroid plus cytosine arabinoside (n = 15) were used in equal proportions. Outcome data was available for 26 dogs, 8 (31%) were alive at the time of data collection with a follow-up range of 135 to 2944 days. Death or euthanasia was related to MUE in 17/18 dogs that died during the study period. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated a median survival time for all-cause death of 84 days. CONCLUSION: The prognosis for MUE in this subset of dogs was considered poor.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38932495/