Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Brain infarction diagnosis by CT in eight older dogs
By Paul, A E H et al.·Published in Australian veterinary journal·2010·Murdoch University Veterinary Hospital, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Computed tomography diagnosis of eight dogs with brain infarction.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Eight older dogs were brought in with sudden neurological problems, and a CT scan revealed they had brain infarctions, which are areas of dead tissue due to lack of blood flow. Three of these dogs were spaniels with non-bleeding brain issues, while five had other types of infarctions, some of which involved bleeding. Unfortunately, one dog had to be euthanized right away due to severe symptoms, and another was euthanized later because of kidney disease. However, six of the dogs lived for at least a year after their diagnosis, showing that some can recover or manage their conditions.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Medical records of eight dogs presenting with acute onset of neurological signs and a diagnosis of brain infarction as determined by computed tomography (CT) imaging were reviewed. DESIGN: Retrospective single-centre case review. RESULTS: Ischaemic infarction in the territory of the rostral cerebellar artery was identified in three spaniel-breed dogs. All cerebellar infarcts were non-haemorrhagic. Telencephalic infarcts were identified in five dogs, in the territories of the middle cerebral artery (2/5) and rostral cerebral artery (3/5). One of these dogs had an ischaemic infarction, but all other infarctions appeared haemorrhagic. All dogs were geriatric (≥ 8 years old), with concurrent medical conditions identified in six dogs. One dog was euthanased after diagnosis because of the severity of its neurological signs and one dog was euthanased as a result of associated renal disease 2 months after diagnosis. Six dogs were alive at least 1 year after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: CT is useful in the diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident in dogs, which can present as a spectrum of images with early changes in attenuation and subtle mass effects detected after infarction. CT is particularly sensitive for detecting haemorrhagic infarction, but under-represent ischaemic and lacunar infarctions when compared with MRI.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20854292/