Progressive Myelopathy Due to a Spontaneous Intramedullary Hematoma in a Dog: Pre- and Postoperative Clinical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Follow-up

Abstract

A 4-year-old, male Jack Russell terrier was presented for a 6-month history of progressive right hemiparesis with episodic cervical hyperesthesia. The neurological examination showed a right-sided, upper motoneuron syndrome and partial Horner's syndrome. Two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations were performed 3 months apart and revealed a persistent cervical intramedullary hematoma. A dorsal myelotomy was performed. A subacute hematoma was confirmed histologically without underlying lesions. Eighteen months later, the dog's clinical signs were minimal. Two MRI examinations were performed 2 weeks and 5 months after surgery and revealed regressing signal abnormalities at the surgical site, consistent with a surgical scar.

Spontaneous thoracolumbar hematomyelia secondary to hemophilia B in a cat

“…Successful decompressive surgery of an intramedullary hematoma has previously been described in a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier. 15 However, the hemorrhage in that case was limited to the C4 vertebral level, and no underlying disorder of coagulation was identified.…”

“…6–8 Other reported underlying causes of spontaneous intraspinal hemorrhage in dogs include Angiostrongylus vasorum and Leishmania infantum infection, juvenile polyarteritis syndrome, Von Willebrand factor deficiency, vascular malformations, iatrogenic secondary to cerebrospinal fluid collection, brown snake envenomation, intervertebral disc herniation, trauma and neoplasia. 9–15 …”

“…[6][7][8] Other reported underlying causes of spontaneous intraspinal hemorrhage in dogs include Angiostrongylus vasorum and Leishmania infantum infection, juvenile polyarteritis syndrome, Von Willebrand factor deficiency, vascular malformations, iatrogenic secondary to cerebrospinal fluid collection, brown snake envenomation, intervertebral disc herniation, trauma and neoplasia. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Overall, clinical signs in cats with coagulopathies have previously been considered to be less severe than those of dogs with similar hemostatic abnormalities. Bleeding times for the intrinsic (aPTT) and extrinsic (one-stage prothrombin time) pathways are typically considered to be abnormal when they are 25% above or below the concurrent controls.…”

Imaging Diagnosis ‐ Spontaneous Subperiosteal Vertebral Hemorrhage in a Greyhound

“…In some human cases of posttraumatic subperiosteal hematoma, the development of clinical signs has been reported to be delayed, with one patient remaining symptom free until 6 days following head trauma . The possibility of an earlier trauma in our patient was considered unlikely as the only trauma witnessed by the owners had occurred more than one year previously and the MRI characteristics of the hemorrhage were consistent with a hyperacute (hours old) timeframe . As preventative tick treatment was current, the dog had not traveled outside of the United Kingdom within the previous year, and there was no evidence of coagulopathy on blood tests and buccal mucosal bleeding time, only the most geographically likely infectious cause of hemorrhage ( A. vasorum ) was investigated.…”

Remission after complete excision of an intramedullary hemangioma with an identifiable tumor plane in a dog

“…This is only the second published report of myelotomy for canine hemangioma/−blastoma. 18 Myelotomy has been successfully performed in individual dogs with intramedullary hematoma, 19 hamartoma, 16 and a vascular anomaly similar to cavernous angioma. 20 Despite complete excision, persistent fecal incontinence lead to euthanasia after myelotomy for 1 ependymoma.…”