Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with scoliosis and spinal cord cyst treated by surgery
By Bagley, R S et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1997·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Scoliosis and associated cystic spinal cord lesion in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-month-old female Mastiff was brought in because she was weak in her hind legs and had trouble walking. The vet found that she had scoliosis, which is a sideways curvature of the spine, and discovered a cystic lesion in her spinal cord. After surgery to drain the cyst and straighten her spine, the dog showed significant improvement. Six months later, her spine remained straight, and she no longer had weakness in her hind limbs.
People also search for: dog hind leg weakness · Mastiff scoliosis treatment · dog spinal cord cyst surgery
Abstract
A 7-month-old female Mastiff was admitted for weakness in the hind limbs and an abnormal gait. There was an obvious scoliosis in the midlumbar region. Using electromyography, fibrillation potentials and positive sharp waves were found in the epaxial musculature of the vertebral column lateral to the spinous processes of Tl3-L4 on the right (convex) side of the body. On myelographic evaluation, contrast medium irregularly filled the subdural and epidural space of Tl1-L3. On surgical examination, the dog had a cystic lesion of the spinal cord that correlated with myelographic findings. This lesion was incised and drained. The scoliotic defect was surgically straightened, and the affected vertebrae were fused. Six months after surgery, the vertebral column continued to be straight and the paraparesis had resolved.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9290822/