Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with neck paralysis diagnosed by CT and MRI with spinal heartworm
By Lim, Sohee et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2024·Western Animal Medical Center, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging features of canine cervical epidural dirofilariasis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old neutered male Maltese dog was brought in after a month of not being able to walk properly. Imaging tests showed a strange structure in the spine, which turned out to be a long, narrow parasite causing pressure on the spinal cord. The vet performed surgery to remove the parasite, which was identified as Dirofilaria immitis, the heartworm. After the surgery, the dog was treated and is expected to recover.
People also search for: Maltese dog not walking · dog spine parasite treatment · heartworm in dogs symptoms
Abstract
An 8-year-old neutered male Maltese dog presented with a month-long history of progressive nonambulatory tetraparesis. MRI revealed a well-defined, centrally nonenhanced, T1-weighted hypointense, extradural structure located in the vertebral canal at the level of the C5 vertebral body. CT demonstrated a hypoattenuating, space-occupying structure in the same area. Surgery revealed a long, narrow parasite in the epidural space. An adult Dirofilaria immitis was confirmed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. This is a novel report describing the MRI and CT features of cervical epidural dirofilariasis in a dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39016074/