Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with spinal cord damage from slipped disk material
By Sanders, Sean G et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2002·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intramedullary spinal cord damage associated with intervertebral disk material in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old Miniature Doberman Pinscher was brought in with sudden weakness and difficulty walking due to a problem with its spine. An MRI showed that material from an intervertebral disk had pushed into the spinal cord, which is a rare but serious condition. The dog underwent surgery to relieve pressure on the spinal cord, and after the procedure, it showed significant improvement. A biopsy confirmed the presence of degenerated disk material in the spinal cord.
People also search for: dog weakness walking · Miniature Doberman Pinscher spinal surgery · intervertebral disk disease treatment
Abstract
Intervertebral disk extrusions into the spinal cord are rarely reported in veterinary medicine, and only necropsy findings are described in previous reports. It is hypothesized that a disk lesion results in forceful injection of disk material into the spinal cord. In the 3-year-old Miniature Doberman Pinscher of our report, acute clinical signs and results of magnetic resonance imaging were consistent with this disease and helped determine the extent and character of the lesions. Alteration in the appearance of the nucleus pulposus was important in determining that intervertebral disk disease may have been present in this dog. However, a definitive diagnosis of intramedullary disk extrusion can be made only via histologic examination of a biopsy specimen or at necropsy. The dog improved substantially after surgical decompression of the spinal cord, and histologic findings in a biopsy specimen of material found within the spinal cord were consistent with mature degenerate intervertebral disk material.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12479331/