Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with brain plasma cell tumor causing seizures and paralysis
By Sheppard, B J et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·1997·Department of Pathobiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Primary encephalic plasma cell tumor in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old female spayed Spitz dog showed signs of a right head tilt, seizures, and difficulty moving her legs over a period of five weeks. Tests revealed a high number of white blood cells in her cerebrospinal fluid, indicating inflammation, and an MRI showed a concerning lesion in her brain. Unfortunately, after her passing, a necropsy confirmed the presence of a malignant plasma cell tumor in her brain. This case highlights a rare type of brain cancer in dogs, which can lead to severe neurological symptoms.
People also search for: dog seizures treatment · head tilt in dogs · brain tumor in dogs · canine plasma cell tumor · dog quadriplegia causes
Abstract
A 5-year-old female spayed Spitz dog had a 5-week history of right head tilt, seizures, and progressive quadriplegia. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid revealed 27,600 white blood cells per microliter with 63% mononuclear phagocytes, 27% lymphocytes, 6% neutrophils, 3% plasmacytoid cells, and 1% eosinophils, and over 2000 mg/dl protein. On contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance images, a focal 1-cm oval lesion was identified in the right ventral brainstem. There was also marked contrast enhancement of the meninges in the following areas: surrounding the brainstem, outlining cerebellar folia, along the ventral floor of the brain and extending to the falx cerebri, and partially outlining the left frontal lobe. At necropsy, the areas of contrast enhancement corresponded to the presence of compact cellular sheets of pleomorphic, anisocytotic, oval to polygonal neoplastic cells with plasmacytoid differentiation. The smaller of these plasmacytoid cells stained predominantly for cytoplasmic immunoglobulin A using immunoperoxidase methodology. Ultrastructurally, the neoplastic cells had morphologic features typical of plasma cells, with large amounts of predominantly rough endoplasmic reticulum with variably prominent Golgi formation. This is the first report of a canine primary intracranial malignant plasma cell tumor.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9396145/