Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with spinal schwannoma causing high red blood cells
By Yamauchi, Akiko et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2004·Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Secondary erythrocytosis associated with schwannoma in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 11-year-old spayed female mixed-breed dog was brought in for limping on her right front leg and pain around her neck. X-rays and a CT scan showed a mass pressing on her spinal cord, which was surgically removed and identified as a schwannoma (a type of nerve tumor). After the surgery, she was able to walk normally again. Unfortunately, the tumor came back ten months later, causing a condition called erythrocytosis (an increase in red blood cells). The tumor was removed again, which temporarily improved her condition by lowering her erythropoietin levels, a hormone that stimulates red blood cell production.
People also search for: dog limping neck pain · schwannoma in dogs · dog surgery recovery · erythrocytosis treatment in dogs
Abstract
An 11-year-old, spayed female mixed-breed dog showed clinical signs of right forelimb lameness and pain by palpation around the neck. Radiography and computed tomography (CT) revealed an extradural mass at the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae, which compressed the spinal cord. The mass was surgically removed and histopathologically diagnosed as schwannoma. The dog recovered her normal gait after hemilaminectomy and removal of the mass. Ten months after the surgery, the tumor recurred with absolute erythrocytosis and was surgically removed again. This removal temporarily resolved the erythrocytosis with a decrease in plasma erythropoietin (EPO) concentration. EPO protein was detected immunohistochemically in the tumor cells. Erythrocytosis in this dog may be caused by ectopic EPO produced in the schwannoma tissues.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15644618/