Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Degenerative myelopathy causing spinal cord damage in Boxer dogs
By Miller, A D et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2009·Harvard Medical School, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Degenerative myelopathy in two Boxer dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Two Boxer dogs were diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy (DM), a progressive disease affecting the spinal cord that leads to weakness and loss of coordination. Despite not showing clear signs on MRI or spinal fluid tests, both dogs had significant spinal cord damage confirmed through tissue analysis. The findings revealed severe degeneration in specific areas of the spinal cord. Unfortunately, DM is a chronic condition with no cure, but understanding its effects can help owners manage their pets' symptoms and maintain their quality of life.
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Abstract
Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a common, slowly progressive, debilitating disease reported in several dog breeds, including the German Shepherd Dog and Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Boxer dogs present occasionally for a thoracolumbar myelopathy for which no cause is identified on MRI or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Despite a lack of a histologic description of DM in the Boxer in the veterinary literature, such dogs are presumed to have DM. Here we report 2 histologically confirmed cases of DM in the Boxer breed in which histologic studies disclosed marked degenerative changes in the spinal cord that were most prominent in the thoracic and cranial lumbar segments. Lesions consisted of myelin vacuolation and degeneration, myelophagocytosis, reactive astrocytosis, and ellipsoid formation most prominent in the lateral and ventral funiculi. We present a detailed histologic description of DM in the Boxer dog and compare it to DM in other purebred dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19276068/