Disorders affecting the cauda equina in dogs (A retrospective study of 11 cases and literature review)

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, Bárbara Gomes dos
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10348/9490
• topic: cauda equina syndrome; cauda equina disorders

A compression of the lumbosacral spinal nerve roots may lead to the development of a cauda equina syndrome (CES). Multiple aetiologies can lead to a CES and in this paper, there is a breve description of them, classified as: degenerative, anomalous/developmental, neoplastic, infectious/inflammatory, ischemic/vascular and traumatic. In a fully developed CES, multiple signs of sensory disorders may appear, such as low-back pain, anaesthesia, pelvic limbs’ (PL) weakness or chronic paraplegia and, bladder dysfunction. To evaluate the severity of the lesion, it is necessary to examine the patient and collect all clinical signs and results of the neurological examination and establish a prognosis. The diagnosis is based essentially on the neurological exam and imaging techniques, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance. The therapy options usually include the conservative treatment in cases that are considered less severe, and/or the surgical treatment for patients with more severe neurological deficits. The prognosis is mainly dependent upon the neurological deficits, the aetiology of the disease and the chosen therapy. The practical component of the study includes the analysis of 11 clinical cases of dogs who were submitted to a CT scan, in the presence of clinical signs compatible with CES. The statistical analysis was based on collected data from Hospital Veterinário da UTAD (Vila Real, Portugal), between August 2017 and November 2018. The obtained results allowed to conclude that large/giant breed dogs are more predisposed to CE disorders, constituting 55% of the sample. Neurological deficits, in CE disorders, are dependent of the nerve root(s) involved and are usually LMN in nature. Degenerative lesions are the most common lesion type regarding CE region, with an expression of 55%. DH II (83% of the degenerative cases) are more common than DH I in the lumbosacral region. The most frequent site for DH, in the CE region, is the L7/L8- S1 IVS, representing 83% of the cases. There is a male predilection for DLS, with an expression of 67%. Large/giant breed middle aged to older dogs have higher predisposition to develop DLS. Medical therapy had a success rate of 50% with 100% recurrence, for DLS, and surgical therapy had a success rate of 100%. The second most frequent type of lesion was the vascular type (FCE), representing 18% of cases. Neoplastic, traumatic and infectious lesions had an expression of 9%.