Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
MRI brain scans in Finnish Spitz dogs with focal epilepsy
By Viitmaa, R et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2006·Department of Clinical Veterinary Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Magnetic resonance imaging findings in Finnish Spitz dogs with focal epilepsy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of eleven Finnish Spitz dogs with focal seizures were examined to understand their condition better. They underwent various tests, including blood work, brain scans (MRI), and electroencephalography (EEG). While seven of the dogs showed signs of seizure activity on the EEG, the MRI only revealed changes in one dog, which were not consistent over time. The study found that these dogs likely have focal idiopathic epilepsy, meaning the cause is unknown, and that MRI scans are not very effective in identifying the areas in the brain responsible for the seizures.
People also search for: Finnish Spitz seizures · dog epilepsy treatment · MRI for dog seizures · focal epilepsy in dogs · dog seizure diagnosis
Abstract
Eleven Finnish Spitz dogs with focal seizures and 3 healthy controls were evaluated. General clinical and neurological examinations, blood examination, urinalysis, cerebrospinal fluid examination, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain were performed on all dogs. On EEG examination, focal epileptic activity was found in 7 of 11 dogs (64%), and generalized epileptic activity was observed in 4 of 11 dogs (36%). MRI (performed with 1.5 T equipment) detected changes in 1 epileptic dog. Mild contrast enhancement after gadolinium injection was identified in this dog's right parietal cortex. However, no such changes were observed in repeated magnetic resonance images. Special emphasis was given to seizure history to determine any correlations between seizure intervals and MRI findings. Our results indicate that Finnish Spitz dogs with focal seizures suffer from focal idiopathic epilepsy and have nondetectable findings on MRI or pathology. MRI showed poor sensitivity in detecting epileptogenic areas in our patients with focal seizures. Reversible MRI changes in 1 dog could have been caused by seizures.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16594587/