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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

CT-guided drainage helps treat brain abscess in young dog

By Seddon, Kathleen & Stewart, Georgina·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2025·Neurology Department·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Computed tomography-guided drainage of a canine intracerebral abscess.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 7-week-old female American Bulldog was brought to the vet after suffering a head injury and having seizures. She was very lethargic and showed signs of neurological issues, including a lack of reflexes on one side of her body. A CT scan revealed a fractured skull with an abscess and increased pressure in her brain. After her condition worsened with initial treatment, a CT-guided drainage procedure was performed, which successfully improved her health. Twenty months later, she was still doing well.

People also search for: puppy seizures treatment · dog head injury recovery · American Bulldog brain abscess treatment

Abstract

An approximately 7-week-old female American Bulldog was presented for head injury and seizures. The dog was obtunded with absent left-sided postural reactions, absent left palpebral reflex, delayed vestibulo-ocular reflex bilaterally, and calvarial hyperesthesia. CT revealed a fragmented, depressed fracture of the right frontal bone, with an associated abscess and evidence of raised intracranial pressure. The dog initially declined on medical management. Following a CT-guided drainage procedure, the dog improved and remained clinically well twenty months later. This is the first report of minimally-invasive sequential CT allowing successful drainage and culture of a canine intracerebral abscess.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39681991/