Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Caudal Cervical Spondylomyelopathy of the Doberman Pinscher

Abstract

Caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy is a common neurologic disorder of Doberman pinschers which has a number of striking similarities to cervical spondylotic myelopathy in humans. Diagnosis of this human disease is facilitated considerably by the use of computed tomographic (CT) myelography .Sixteen Doberman pinscher dogs with caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy were studied by conventional myelography followed by CT myelography. A close correlation was noted between the CT myelographic appearance of the cervical spinal cord in these dogs, and that reported for human cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Five dogs had atrophy of the spinal cord, and in another there was an accumulation of contrast medium within the spinal cord. These features are often associated with a poor response to surgical decompression in humans with cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The CT examination provided information that could not be obtained by conventional myelography alone and should be considered as an additional diagnostic procedure in dogs with caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy.

Effect of Anesthesia, Positioning, Time, and Feeding on the Proventriculus: Keel Ratio of Clinically Healthy Parrots

“…Nonselective angiographic CT was investigated following its description in Doberman pinschers with cervical spondylomyelopathy. 11 The CT angiography findings in this study were disappointing and did not add any additional information compared with conventional CT. Venous asymmetry 11 was not detected despite proven spinal cord compression and good opacification of the C1-T2 venous sinuses. This disappointing result may be attributed to the nonselective nature of the angiographic study or to changes in direction of flow within the valve-less, frequently anastomosing vertebral venous sinuses.…”

Cervical spondylomyelopathy in dogs

“…Spinal cord atrophy in dogs has been found to be identical to that disorder (Sharp et al, 1992), although its prognostic significance in dogs is unknown. In a study performed in Doberman Pinchers, computed tomography-myelography compared with conventional myelography provided increased information on the exact location and degree of compression, as myelography failed to distinguish spinal cord compression from spinal cord atrophy (Sharp et al, 1995). In the same study and according to a proposed classification scheme, central cord deformity was the most common computed tomography-myelographic appearance in the examined dogs.…”

“…It is of smaller diagnostic value than cervical myelography (Sharp et al, 1995) and non-contrast computed tomography cannot be used as the sole diagnostic test for the diagnosis of cervical spondylomyelopathy (da Costa and Samii, 2010). Compared to magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography is a faster imaging technique with reduced requirements in anaesthetic procedures, as well as of smaller cost to the animal's owner.…”

“…Myelography can identify the site of compressions, unlike plain X-rays (Lewis, 1991), and has been the technique of choice for initial evaluation of dogs with suspicion of caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy (Sharp et al, 1995). A potential complication is post-myelographic seizures with an incidence risk of 10% in dogs weighing over 20 kg (da Costa et al, 2011a).…”

“…Finally, another important finding in magnetic resonance imaging is the assessment of technique in detecting complete canal penetration by Steinmann pins has been found to reach 100% (Hettlich et al, 2010). Computed tomography-myelography can be performed after conventional myelography, in order to rule out other causes of myelopathy and to define precisely the region of interest (Sharp et al, 1992(Sharp et al, , 1995. Abnormalities observed in computed tomography-myelography include compression of the spinal cord from extradural mass(es), sub-arachnoid space attenuation and spinal cord atrophy.…”