Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Thoracolumbar spinal cord scarring in pugs with leg weakness
By Rohdin, Cecilia et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Thoracolumbar meningeal fibrosis in pugs.
Plain-English summary
A group of 30 pugs, mostly around 7 years old, were brought in for problems like weakness in their back legs and loss of bladder control, which had been getting worse over time. After thorough examinations and imaging tests, it was found that many had spinal cord damage and inflammation, likely due to a condition called thoracolumbar myelopathy. Unfortunately, this condition led to significant spinal issues, and while treatment options were explored, the prognosis for recovery was limited due to the severity of the damage.
People also search for: pug back leg weakness · pug incontinence treatment · thoracolumbar myelopathy in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Thoracolumbar myelopathies associated with spinal cord and vertebral column lesions, with a similar clinical phenotype, but different underlying etiologies, occur in pugs. OBJECTIVES: To further characterize the clinical and neuropathological characteristics of pugs with longstanding thoracolumbar myelopathy. ANIMALS: Thirty client-owned pure-bred pugs with a history of more than a month of ataxia and paresis of the pelvic limbs, suggesting a myelopathy localized to the thoracolumbar spinal cord, were included in the study. METHODS: Prospective clinicopathological study. Included pugs underwent a complete neurological examination and gross and histopathologic postmortem studies with focus on the spinal cord. Computed tomography (n = 18), magnetic resonance imaging (n = 17), and cerebrospinal fluid analysis (n = 27) were performed before or immediately after death. RESULTS: Twenty male and 10 female pugs had a median age at clinical onset of 84 months (interquartile range, 66-96). Affected pugs presented with a progressive clinical course and 80% were incontinent. There was circumferential meningeal fibrosis with concomitant focal, malacic, destruction of the neuroparenchyma in the thoracolumbar spinal cord in 24/30 pugs. Vertebral lesions accompanied the focal spinal cord lesion, and there was lympho-histiocytic inflammation associated or not to the parenchymal lesion in 43% of the pugs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Meningeal fibrosis with associated focal spinal cord destruction and neighboring vertebral column lesions were common findings in pugs with long-standing thoracolumbar myelopathy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32003496/