Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
MRI shows spinal stroke in 9-year-old Shih Tzu dog with sudden
By Yun, Taesik et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2020·College of Veterinary Medicine, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Findings of Ischemic Spinal Injury in a Chondrodystrophic Dog With Fibrocartilaginous Embolism.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old male Shih Tzu was brought to the vet after suddenly becoming weak and unable to move all four legs. The vet ruled out several potential causes for his paralysis and performed an MRI, which showed specific lesions in his spinal cord. Unfortunately, treatment with steroids did not help, but further imaging confirmed that he had a fibrocartilaginous embolism, a type of spinal injury. This case highlights how advanced imaging can help diagnose complex conditions in dogs.
People also search for: Shih Tzu paralysis treatment · dog spinal injury symptoms · fibrocartilaginous embolism in dogs
Abstract
A 9-year-old, intact male Shih Tzu dog presented with systemic weakness and peracute onset of tetraplegia. Tetraplegia with lower motor neuron signs was noted upon neurological examination. Diseases that cause acute flaccid tetraparesis, such as acute fulminating myasthenia gravis, polyradiculoneuritis, tick paralysis, and botulism, were ruled out based on the medical history, normal electrophysiological tests, and non-response to the neostigmine challenging test. Initial 0.3-Tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings included sharply demarcated intramedullary lesions at the C3-C6 level, mainly involving gray matter, which appeared hypo- to iso- intense on T1-weighted images (WIs), and hyperintense on T2-WIs and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. There was no enhancement on post-contrast T1-WIs. Neutrophilic pleocytosis was observed in the cerebrospinal fluid analysis. No clinical responses were observed for the treatment of non-infectious myelitis with an immunosuppressive dosage of prednisolone. A follow-up 3-T MRI 6 days later demonstrated hyperintensity on diffusion-WI (DWI) and a decreased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value (0.54 × 10mm/s) of the spinal lesions. Through histological examination, a fibrocartilaginous embolism was definitively confirmed. This is the first report to describe an ischemic spinal injury visualized by DWI and ADC mapping with high-field MRI in a chondrodystrophic dog diagnosed with a fibrocartilaginous embolism.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33363237/