Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Labrador Retriever puppy with severe brain degeneration seen on MRI
By Mariani, C L et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2001·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Magnetic resonance imaging of spongy degeneration of the central nervous system in a Labrador Retriever.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-month-old female Labrador Retriever was brought to the vet because she was having trouble moving her legs and showed signs of coordination problems. Over six weeks, her condition worsened, leading to severe unsteadiness and eventually she couldn't walk at all. An MRI revealed abnormal lesions in her brain, which were linked to a condition known as spongy degeneration, a serious neurological disease seen in some Labradors. Sadly, the decision was made to euthanize her due to the severity of her condition.
People also search for: Labrador Retriever ataxia · dog brain lesions · spongy degeneration in dogs · puppy mobility issues · dog euthanasia decision
Abstract
A 7-month-old, neutered female Labrador Retriever was evaluated for tetraparesis and subtle cerebellar dysfunction. Clinical signs progressed over a period of 6 weeks to severe ataxia, hypermetria, intention tremors, and finally non-ambulatory tetraparesis. On magnetic resonance imaging of the brain there were large, bilaterally symmetrical, ovoid lesions in the region of the deep cerebellar nuclei that were hyperintense on T2-weighted and proton density images and hypointense on T1-weighted images. There were similar but smaller bilaterally symmetrical lesions present within the thalamus. Euthanasia was performed and lesions consistent with the previously described spongy degeneration of Labrador Retrievers were identified. This disease and its relation to similar human heritable leukodystrophies are discussed.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11499701/