Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term survival of a dog with Alexander disease
By Kobatake, Yui et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2020·Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Long-term survival of a dog with Alexander disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 1-year-11-month-old spayed female toy poodle was brought in because she was having trouble walking and showed weakness in her hind legs. Over time, her condition worsened, and she developed severe weakness in all four legs. Despite veterinary care, she continued to decline and sadly passed away at nearly 5 years old due to respiratory failure. A postmortem exam revealed specific changes in her spinal cord that are typical of Alexander disease, a rare neurological condition. Unfortunately, this case highlights the serious nature of this disease and its impact on a dog's life.
People also search for: dog ataxia treatment · toy poodle weakness · Alexander disease in dogs · dog respiratory failure symptoms
Abstract
A 1-year- and 11-month-old spayed female toy poodle had showed progressive ataxia and paresis in the hindlimbs since 11 months old. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed high signal intensity on T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images at the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord. The dog's neurological condition slowly deteriorated and flaccid tetraparesis was exhibited. At 4 years and 11 months old, the dog died of respiratory failure. On postmortem examination, eosinophilic corkscrew bundles (Rosenthal fibers) were observed mainly in the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord. Histological features were comparable to previously reported cases with Alexander disease. This is a first case report to describe the clinical course and long-term prognosis of a dog with Alexander disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33055453/