Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with neck spinal cord compression from blood vessel problem
By Westworth, Diccon R et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2006·Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Vascular anomaly causing subclavian steal and cervical myelopathy in a dog: diagnosis and endovascular management.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old dog was experiencing neck problems due to a rare blood vessel issue that was compressing its spinal cord. After various imaging tests, the vet found that the dog's right subclavian artery wasn't working properly, causing blood to flow backward and leading to the compression. To relieve the pressure on the spinal cord, the vet performed a procedure to block off the enlarged blood vessel. The dog showed significant improvement within six weeks, and its neurological function remained better a year later.
People also search for: dog neck problems · cervical myelopathy treatment · dog spinal cord compression · vascular anomaly in dogs
Abstract
A 3-year-old dog with cervical myelopathy resulting from a vascular anomaly is described. Marked intradural-extramedullary spinal cord compression was observed, in association with multilevel ectatic anastomotic radicular arterial branches connecting the left and right vertebral arteries. A nonpatent proximal segment of the right subclavian artery had resulted in compensatory enlargement of the left vertebral artery. Flow within the right vertebral artery was retrograde and fed into the patent distal segment of the right subclavian artery. Multiple imaging techniques including myelography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and selective digital angiography were used to document this anomaly. To reduce spinal cord compression the largest collateral vessel was embolized without complication. Good clinical response was observed within 6 weeks and improved clinical neurologic function was maintained at the time of a 12-month re-evaluation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16700177/