Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Calf born with spinal cord defect causing paralysis and skin
By Cagnotti, Giulia et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2019·Department of Veterinary Science, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Imaging and genetic investigations of neural tube defect in a calf: case report and review of the literature.
- Species:
- cattle
Plain-English summary
A 15-day-old female crossbreed calf was brought in because she couldn't use her back legs since birth. A skin defect was found on her back, and imaging showed issues with her spine, including incomplete fusion of the vertebrae and a duplication of the spinal cord. Despite thorough testing, including a genetic check for a known defect-related mutation, no specific cause was identified. Unfortunately, due to the severity of her condition, the calf's prognosis was poor, and she did not recover.
People also search for: calf paraplegia causes · calf spinal cord issues · calf birth defects treatment
Abstract
A 15-d-old female crossbreed calf was referred because of paraplegia since birth. Clinical examination revealed a skin defect covered by hair on the dorsal midline in the thoracic area of the spine. Thoracolumbar spinal cord neuroanatomic localization was determined based on neurologic examination. Computed tomography of the thoracolumbar spine revealed incomplete fusion of the vertebral arches from T6 to T10 and duplication of the vertebral arch of T7. At the level of T6-T7, duplication of the spinal cord with 2 segments completely separated by a septum of hyperattenuating, probably cartilaginous, tissue was noted. Histologically, the spinal segments had different degrees of duplication. Three central canals were detected in one region. Genetic investigation for the presence of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism, which has been investigated in both human and veterinary medicine as a possible cause of neural tube defects and abortion, was carried out and was negative in both the calf and her dam.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30852979/