PetCaseFinder

Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Dog with sudden paralysis diagnosed with neck spinal tumor on MRI

By Oliveira, Maria et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2014·Hospital Cl&#xed, Spain·View original on PubMed

PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →

Original publication title: Imaging diagnosis: cranial cervical intraspinal schwannoma in a dog.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 3-year-old female Golden Retriever was brought in because she suddenly couldn't move her legs (acute tetraplegia). A neurologic exam suggested a problem in her neck, and an MRI showed a mass in her spinal canal that looked like it could be a type of tumor. Unfortunately, the dog's owners decided against surgery, and she was euthanized. A postmortem exam revealed that the mass was a schwannoma, a type of tumor affecting nerve tissue.

People also search for: dog sudden paralysis · Golden Retriever neck problems · dog spinal tumor treatment

Abstract

A 3-year-old, intact female Golden Retriever was presented with acute tetraplegia. Neurologic examination was consistent with a C1-C5 myelopathy. On magnetic resonance (MR) imaging a well-defined, extradural mass was detected within the spinal canal at the level of C1-C2. The mass was isointense to normal spinal cord gray matter on T1-weighted (T1W) images, hyperintense on T2-weighted (T2W), and gradient-echo (GE) images, and enhanced homogeneously after intravenous contrast administration. MR imaging features were mainly consistent with a meningioma. Surgical treatment was refused by the owners, and the dog was euthanized. Postmortem examination demonstrated that the intraspinal mass was a schwannoma.

Find similar cases for your pet

PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.

Search related cases →

Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23738896/