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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Spinal vein problem causing back leg weakness in 3 cats

By Yayoshi, Naoko et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2022·Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Japan·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Spinal epidural arteriovenous fistula in 3 cats.

Species:
cat
Brain & nervesCats

Plain-English summary

Three young adult cats were experiencing episodes of sensitivity in their spine and weakness in their back legs. They were diagnosed with a spinal epidural arteriovenous fistula, which is an abnormal connection between blood vessels in the spine. After imaging tests confirmed the issue, all three cats underwent surgery to relieve pressure on their spinal cords. Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and all the cats showed improvement in their symptoms, remaining healthy without any recurrence of issues for up to 40 months after the procedure.

People also search for: cat back leg weakness · cat spinal surgery recovery · cat spinal cord problems

Abstract

Three young adult cats with intermittent spinal hyperesthesia and paraparesis and diagnosed with spinal epidural arteriovenous fistula are described. In all 3 cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed focal dilatation of the veins in the epidural space of the thoracic spinal cord, whereas computed tomography angiography (CTA) showed dilatation and enhancement from the intercostal vein to the azygos vein at the same site in the arterial phase. Dorsal laminectomy and occlusion of the interarcuate branches running across the dorsal aspect of the spinal cord were performed in all 3 cats to decompress the spinal cord, which resulted in a remission of clinical signs and no recurrence during 14 to 40 months of follow-up after surgery in all cases.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35983913/