Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with high red blood cells and spinal tumor causing leg pain
By Neal, Samuel V et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2026·Department of Veterinary Biosciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Persistent Erythrocytosis in a Dog With a Spinal Sclerosing Paraganglioma.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old male mixed-breed dog was brought in for limping on his right back leg and pain when trying to defecate, symptoms that had been ongoing for 1.5 years. X-rays and MRI revealed a mass on his spine, which was diagnosed as a spinal sclerosing paraganglioma, a type of tumor. The dog also had high red blood cell levels, but after receiving palliative radiation treatment, his pain improved significantly and his blood levels returned to normal. Unfortunately, two years later, his symptoms returned, and the tumor had grown, but he was treated again with radiation and did not experience any complications.
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Abstract
A 7-year-old, male, castrated, mixed-breed dog presented with right pelvic limb lameness and pain on posturing to defecate that began 1.5 years prior to presentation. Radiographs taken 8 months prior to presentation showed a small lytic lesion of the L6 vertebral body, and CBCs showed a persistently increased hematocrit (HCT) for at least 2 years. Lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a right-sided L5-L7 intradural-extramedullary mass. Cytologic evaluation of a fine-needle aspirate of the mass was consistent with a diagnosis of malignant neoplasia, with a primary differential of paraganglioma. Additional testing revealed an increased normetanephrine-to-creatinine ratio and low serum erythropoietin (EPO). Histologic evaluation, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy were consistent with a diagnosis of spinal sclerosing paraganglioma. No mutations were found on DNA sequencing that are associated with polycythemia vera in humans, a dog with primary erythrocytosis, or in humans with polycythemia-paraganglioma syndrome (PPS). The patient was treated with palliative radiation, after which the neurologic deficits markedly improved and the erythrocytosis resolved. The patient continued to do well with an HCT within the reference interval. Two years later, the patient's neurologic signs recurred, and MRI revealed the paraganglioma had progressed in size. The patient continued to have an HCT within the reference interval and underwent repeat palliative radiation with no complications. The concurrent erythrocytosis and paraganglioma in this patient resemble reports of PPS in humans.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42076787/