Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with tongue weakness and neck pain diagnosed with nerve tumor
By Biserni, Roberta et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2022·From AniCura I Portoni Rossi Veterinary Hospital, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Malignant Nerve Sheath Tumor of the Hypoglossal Nerve in a Maltese Dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old male Maltese dog had neck pain and trouble walking for a week. A vet found signs of a problem in the brain and noticed that part of the dog's tongue was smaller than normal, indicating an issue with the hypoglossal nerve. An MRI revealed a tumor affecting this nerve. Unfortunately, the dog passed away, and further examination confirmed it was a malignant nerve sheath tumor, which is a rare type of cancer. This case highlights the importance of recognizing neurological symptoms in pets.
People also search for: Maltese dog neck pain · dog walking difficulties · hypoglossal nerve tumor in dogs · malignant nerve sheath tumor in dogs
Abstract
A 4 yr old male Maltese dog presented with a 1 wk history of intermittent neck pain and progressive difficulty walking. Neurologic evaluation was consistent with a left-sided brainstem lesion. On oral examination, left lingual hemiatrophy was evident suggesting hypoglossal nerve involvement. A dumbbell-shaped extra-axial mass in the left side of the caudal fossa extending extracranially through the hypoglossal canal was detected by MRI. At postmortem histologic examination, the hypoglossal nerve was diffusely infiltrated by fusiform neoplastic cells arranged in Antoni A and Antoni B patterns. This is the first description of a malignant nerve sheath tumor selectively involving the hypoglossal nerve in a dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35576396/