Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with spinal lymphoma causing back leg weakness diagnosed by MRI
By Kornder, Julie et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2016·Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: IMAGING DIAGNOSIS-VERTEBRAL POLYOSTOTIC LYMPHOMA IN A GERIATRIC DOG.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old spayed female Scottish terrier was brought to the vet because she was having trouble moving her back legs for the past eight days. An examination showed she had pain in her spine, and an MRI revealed tumors on her vertebrae that were pressing on her spinal cord. A needle test on one of the tumors confirmed that she had lymphoma, a type of cancer. This case is notable because it's the first time lymphoma has been found affecting the spine in a dog, and it highlights the importance of MRI for diagnosis.
People also search for: dog back leg weakness · Scottish terrier lymphoma treatment · dog spinal cancer symptoms
Abstract
A 9-year-old spayed female Scottish terrier presented with an 8-day history of progressive paraparesis. Neurological examination suggested a painful T3-L3 myelopathy. Multifocal uniform contrast-enhancing masses involving the vertebral bodies, pedicles, laminae, and spinous processes of two vertebrae and compressing the spinal cord were present on MRI. Fluoroscopic-guided fine needle aspiration of one of the vertebral lesions revealed a predominantly lymphoblastic population of cells compatible with a diagnosis of lymphoma. To the authors' knowledge, this represents the first published case of canine lymphoma with vertebral involvement, characterized with MRI.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26592800/