Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How accurate are neurologic exams and X-rays for locating dog spinal
By Murakami, Tsuyoshi et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·2014·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of the accuracy of neurologic data, survey radiographic results, or both for localization of the site of thoracolumbar intervertebral disk herniation in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 338 dogs with confirmed intervertebral disk herniation (a condition where the cushioning disks between the vertebrae bulge or rupture) were studied to see how well neurologic exams and X-rays could pinpoint the problem area in the spine. The findings showed that while using both neurologic and X-ray data improved predictions, it still led to significant errors. This means that relying solely on these methods might not be enough to accurately identify the affected area, and further imaging tests may be necessary for a complete evaluation.
People also search for: dog back pain diagnosis · intervertebral disk herniation treatment · dog X-ray accuracy for spine issues
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of neurologic data, survey radiographic results, or both for localization of the site of thoracolumbar intervertebral disk herniation in dogs. SAMPLE: 338 dogs with surgically confirmed intervertebral disk herniation from disk spaces T10-11 to L6-7. PROCEDURES: Medical records and archived survey radiographs were reviewed for each case. Data were analyzed with multivariable logistic regression models. Three models were fit to develop subsets of the data consisting of survey radiographic data, neurologic examination data, and a combination of survey radiographic and neurologic examination data. The resulting models were validated by evaluating predictive performance against a validation subset of the data. RESULTS: Models incorporating survey radiographic data and a combination of survey radiographic and neurologic data had similar predictive ability and performed better than the model based solely on neurologic data but resulted in substantial errors in predictions. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A combination of neurologic examination data as recorded in the medical records and radiographic data did not enhance predictive performance of multivariable logistic regression models over models limited to radiographic data. Neurologic and radiographic findings should not be used to completely exclude areas in an abnormal spinal cord region from further evaluation with advanced imaging.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24564310/