ABSTRACT
Acute spinal cord injuries commonly seen in veterinary patients include vascular, compressive, and concussive injuries. Vascular lesions, or infracts, are usually caused by fibrocartilagenous emboli. Concussive and compressive injuries have a variety of pathologies, including intervertebral disk disease, fractures, and luxations (dislocations) of the vertebral column. Although considerable controversy exists over the most appropriate way to manage acute spinal cord injuries, early surgical intervention or decompression remains the best treatment option in managing acute compressive injuries in veterinary patients. High-dose methylprednisolone sodium succinate, an established treatment in human medicine, is falling out of favor because studies have shown little therapeutuc benefit and severe adverse effects.
Subject(s)
Cats/injuries , Decompression, Surgical/veterinary , Dogs/injuries , Pain/veterinary , Spinal Cord Injuries/veterinary , Spinal Fractures/veterinary , Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use , Animals , Decompression, Surgical/methods , Diagnosis, Differential , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Pain/prevention & control , Prognosis , Spinal Cord Injuries/diagnosis , Spinal Cord Injuries/surgery , Spinal Cord Injuries/therapy , Spinal Fractures/diagnosis , Spinal Fractures/surgery , Spinal Fractures/therapy , Treatment OutcomeSubject(s)
Anticonvulsants/adverse effects , Dog Diseases/chemically induced , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/veterinary , Phenobarbital/adverse effects , Seizures/veterinary , Animals , Anticonvulsants/therapeutic use , Dog Diseases/pathology , Dogs , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/pathology , Male , Phenobarbital/therapeutic use , Seizures/drug therapyABSTRACT
Nemaline myopathy is associated with rod-shaped structures in muscle fibers. At least seven distinct clinical forms have been described in humans and mutations have been identified in five different thin-filament genes. Only a few cases of spontaneously occurring nemaline myopathy have been reported in animals and include an adult-onset form in a family of cats and an early-onset form in a dog. Here, we describe a 2-year-old male, neutered, domestic shorthaired cat that was referred to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California-Davis, for evaluation of chronic, progressive weakness, and fine tremors. Neurologic deficits were restricted to the neuromuscular system. Electromyography showed mild to moderate diffuse spontaneous activity. Although rod bodies were prominent on light and electron microscopic evaluation of biopsies from several muscles, sarcoplasmic accumulations of dystrophin, desmin, and spectrin also were identified by immunohistochemistry. These findings may represent the occurrence of rod bodies in conjunction with a protein-aggregate myopathy.
Subject(s)
Cat Diseases/pathology , Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/pathology , Myopathies, Nemaline/pathology , Myopathies, Nemaline/veterinary , Animals , Cats , Electromyography/methods , Immunohistochemistry/methods , Inclusion Bodies/pathology , Male , Microscopy, Electron, Transmission/methods , Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/diagnostic imaging , Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/physiology , Muscle Proteins/metabolism , Myopathies, Nemaline/physiopathology , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
A 15-month-old neutered male cat was presented for progressive paraparesis of 3 months' duration and suspected cardiomegaly. Neuroanatomical localization was a T3-L3 myelopathy. On abdominal ultrasound, an anomalous vessel with turbulent blood flow was identified arising from the caudal vena cava. Myelography showed a bilateral ventrolateral extradural spinal cord compression from T12 to L4. Nonselective angiography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography clearly indicated a vascular complex and vena caval aneurysm with an engorged internal vertebral venous plexus. Surgical occlusion of the anomalous vessels was unsuccessful.
Subject(s)
Aorta/abnormalities , Arteriovenous Fistula/veterinary , Cat Diseases/diagnosis , Spinal Cord Diseases/veterinary , Venae Cavae/abnormalities , Angiography/veterinary , Animals , Arteriovenous Fistula/complications , Arteriovenous Fistula/diagnosis , Cat Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Cat Diseases/pathology , Cats , Diagnosis, Differential , Lumbar Vertebrae , Male , Spinal Cord Diseases/etiology , Thoracic Vertebrae , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/veterinary , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
Primary brain tumors are not commonly reported in young dogs; however, they are the second most common cancer in children. Astrocytomas are the majority of these tumors. This report presents three cases of astrocytomas in young dogs, indicating a possible higher incidence than what is currently held. When suspected, it is recommended that biopsy or surgical excision be performed to further characterize and grade the tumor and, if appropriate, guide treatment.
