Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with urinary incontinence and constipation due to spinal chordoma
By Pease, Anthony P et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2002·Affiliated Veterinary Specialists. P.A., United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Radiographic, computed tomographic and histopathologic appearance of a presumed spinal chordoma in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old Labrador Retriever was brought to the vet for urinary incontinence and constipation that had lasted two weeks. The dog also showed signs of abdominal tenderness, back pain, and weakness in its back legs. X-rays and a CT scan revealed a mass in the spinal cord, which was later identified as a chordoma, a rare type of tumor. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the tumor, treatment options are limited, and the prognosis for recovery is generally poor.
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Abstract
A 4-year-old Labrador Retriever presented for urinary incontinence and constipation of 2 weeks duration. There was a tender abdomen, lumbar pain and conscious proprioceptive deficits in both pelvic limbs. Depressed pelvic limb reflexes were present consistent with a lower motor neuron lesion. In radiographs of the lumbar spine there was narrowing of the intervertebral disc space at L5-L6 with irregular, multifocal areas of mineralized opacities dorsal to the intervertebral disc space, presumably within the vertebral canal. On computed tomography, an intramedullary, partially mineralized mass was identified in the spinal cord at the level of caudal L5 through cranial L6. At necropsy there was a four-centimeter enlarged, irregular segment of spinal cord at the level of L5-L6. When sectioned, the spinal cord bad a mineralized texture. Histologically there were variable sized cells that were stellate in appearance with vacuolated cytoplasm (physaliferous cells) and mucinous background consistent with a chordoma. Chordoma is a rare, skeletal neoplasm that originates from mesoderm-derived notochord and has been reported in humans and animals. Extraskeletal development of a chordoma within the spinal cord is a rare manifestation of this neoplasm. However, based on other reports in dogs, solitary extraskeletal locations of chordomas may be the typical expression of this neoplasm in the dog. Differentiation of similar histologically appearing tumors, such as a parachordoma or myxoid chondrosarcoma, will require immunohistochemical characterization of these tumors in veterinary patients.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12174996/