Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dogs with unknown brain inflammation treated with prednisolone
By Menaut, P et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2008·Service de Pathologie Mé, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Treatment of 11 dogs with meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin with a combination of prednisolone and cytosine arabinoside.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Eleven dogs with a serious brain condition called meningoencephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord) were treated with a combination of a steroid called prednisolone and a chemotherapy drug called cytosine arabinoside. The dogs showed varying responses to the treatment, with five rated as having excellent quality of life, five as good, and one as poor. Their survival times varied significantly, with some living over 600 days after starting treatment. Importantly, no severe side effects were noted from the chemotherapy drug.
People also search for: dog brain inflammation treatment · meningoencephalomyelitis in dogs · prednisolone for dogs with brain disease
Abstract
The records of 11 dogs with evidence of meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin were reviewed. Two of them had had a focal form of the disease and the other nine a disseminated form. The forebrain was involved in five of the nine dogs with disseminated disease, the brainstem in all nine and the cerebellum in one. They had been treated with courses of cytosine arabinoside every three weeks and immunosuppressive doses of prednisolone. Their response to the treatment, in terms of quality of life, was judged by their owners and referring veterinarians to have been excellent in five, good in five and poor in one; their survival times ranged from 78 days to more than 603 days. The cumulative probability of survival at two years was 58.4 per cent. No signs of myelosuppression or other side effects associated with cytosine arabinoside were observed.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18296666/