Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spinal cord narrowing from vertebral defects in West Highland white
By Ros, Carlos et al.·Published in The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne·2020·Hospital Veterinario de la Universidad Cató, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Constrictive myelopathy secondary to caudal articular vertebral process dysplasia in West Highland white terrier dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Three West Highland White Terriers were brought in with symptoms of weakness and difficulty moving their back legs, which suggested a spinal issue. Imaging tests showed that they had a condition where part of their spine was underdeveloped, causing pressure on the spinal cord. While two of the dogs showed some improvement with medical treatment, they still had mild coordination problems afterward. It's important for owners of this breed to be aware of this spinal condition if their dog shows similar symptoms.
People also search for: West Highland White Terrier back leg weakness · dog spinal cord issues · treatment for dog myelopathy
Abstract
Clinical signs, imaging findings and long-term follow-up of 3 West Highland white terrier dogs with constrictive myelopathy secondary to caudal articular vertebral process dysplasia are described. Clinical signs were consistent with an acute or chronic T3-L3 myelopathy in all dogs. Diagnostic imaging revealed hypoplasia or aplasia of the caudal articular vertebral processes, extradural compressive myelographic pattern (hourglass-like pattern) with a reduced diameter of the spinal cord, and focal thickening of extradural soft tissues. Medical treatment initially improved the clinical signs in 2 dogs; however, mild proprioceptive deficits remained in all cases. Key clinical message: Constrictive myelopathy secondary to caudal articular vertebral process dysplasia in West Highland white terrier dogs should be considered as a differential diagnosis of an acute or chronic T3-L3 myelopathy in this breed.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33149351/