Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
MRI shows fibrotic contracture in both infraspinatus muscles of a dog
By Orellana-James, N G et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2013·Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Sub-acute and chronic MRI findings in bilateral canine fibrotic contracture of the infraspinatus muscle.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old female German pointer was brought in for persistent limping in both front legs, with a history of right leg lameness for three months. The vet found that she had difficulty fully bending her shoulders but showed no signs of pain. An MRI showed muscle changes in both shoulders, indicating chronic degeneration. The dog underwent surgery to remove part of the affected muscles, which improved her ability to move.
People also search for: dog limping front leg · German pointer shoulder pain · dog surgery for muscle problems
Abstract
A six-year-old, 30-kg female German pointer dog was presented for examination with a history of pre-existing right-forelimb lameness and more recent (3 months) persistent lameness in the left-forelimb. Physical examination revealed mild left-forelimb lameness and a mild circumduction movement. There were no signs of pain or crepitation detected during manipulation of the shoulders, but the animal was unable to fully flex both glenohumeral joints. Magnetic resonance imaging, using fast recovery fast spin echo T2-weighted and fat saturated proton density sequences, revealed abnormal heterogeneous hypointensity in the right infraspinatus muscle and a heterogeneous hyperintense area in the left infraspinatus muscle. Surgical treatment consisting of a bilateral infraspinatus tenectomy resulted in improved limb function. Histopathological examination demonstrated tissue changes in the right infraspinatus, characterised by myofibre degeneration and fibrosis, compatible with a chronic degenerative process, while changes in the left infraspinatus muscle were characterised by variable degrees of fibre degeneration, haemorrhage and interstitial oedema.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23656382/