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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Dog with progressive back leg weakness diagnosed with spinal

By Röthlisberger, A et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2012·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Germany·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Suspected primary glioblastoma multiforme in the canine spinal cord.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

An eight-year-old mixed-breed dog was brought in because it was having trouble using its back legs and seemed to be in pain. The vet found a serious problem in the dog's spinal cord and took images that showed multiple abnormal areas. Tests revealed that the dog had a malignant tumor called glioblastoma multiforme, which is a type of brain cancer. Sadly, due to the severity of the condition, the owner decided to euthanize the dog to prevent further suffering.

People also search for: dog back leg weakness · mixed-breed dog spinal cord tumor · glioblastoma in dogs · dog euthanasia decision

Abstract

An eight-year-old mixed-breed dog was presented with progressive paraparesis. Neurological examination revealed a painful diffuse lesion between spinal cord segments T3 and L3. Magnetic resonance images displayed multi-focal contrast enhancing spinal cord and meningeal lesions. Cytology of these lesions revealed a malignant tumour prompting euthanasia of the dog. Histopathology confirmed the cytological diagnosis and a final diagnosis of a glioblastoma multiforme was made based on immunohistochemistry.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22882181/