Abstract
BackgroundDisk-associated cervical spondylomyelopathy (DA-CSM) is a multifactorial neurological disorder in which progressive caudal cervical spinal cord compression is mainly caused by one or more intervertebral disk protrusions. The Doberman pinscher breed seems predisposed for this condition. The underlying cause and pathophysiology of DA-CSM are currently unknown. Recently, wider intervertebral disks have been put forward as a risk factor for development of clinically relevant DA-CSM. However, little is known about other factors affecting intervertebral disk width. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess the association between intervertebral disk width, measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and clinical status, age, gender and intervertebral disk location in dogs with and without clinical signs of DA-CSM.MethodsDoberman pinschers with clinical signs of DA-CSM (N=17),clinically normal Doberman pinschers (N=20), and clinically normal English Foxhounds (N=17), underwent MRI of the cervical vertebral column. On sagittal T2-weighted images, intervertebral disk width was measured from C2-C3 to C6-C7. Intra –and interobserver agreement were assessed on a subset of 20 of the 54 imaging studies.ResultsIntervertebral disk width was not significantly different between Doberman pinschers with clinical signs of DA-CSM, clinically normal Doberman pinschers or clinically normal English Foxhounds (p=0.43). Intervertebral disk width was positively associated with increasing age (p=0.029). Each monthly increase in age resulted in an increase of disk width by 0.0057mm. Intervertebral disk width was not significantly affected by gender (p=0.056), but was significantly influenced by intervertebral disk location (p <0.0001). The assessed measurements were associated with a good intra –and interobserver agreement.ConclusionsThe present study does not provide evidence that wider intervertebral disks are associated with clinical status in dogs with and without DA-CSM. Instead, it seems that cervical intervertebral disk width in dogs is positively associated with increase in age.
Highlights
Disk-associated cervical spondylomyelopathy (DA-CSM) is a multifactorial neurological disorder in which progressive caudal cervical spinal cord compression is mainly caused by one or more intervertebral disk protrusions
Eight intervertebral disks were excluded in the group of clinically normal Doberman pinschers; six of these disks were situated between C6-C7 and 2 between C2-C3
Ten intervertebral disks were excluded in the group of clinically normal English Foxhounds; 8 of these were situated between C6-C7, and 1 each between C4-C5 and C5-C6
Summary
Disk-associated cervical spondylomyelopathy (DA-CSM) is a multifactorial neurological disorder in which progressive caudal cervical spinal cord compression is mainly caused by one or more intervertebral disk protrusions. In DA-CSM, caudal cervical spinal cord compression is mainly caused by protrusion of one or more intervertebral disks [5]. This disk associated spinal cord compression is sometimes seen in combination with dorsal compression resulting from hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum and rather mild vertebral abnormalities such as flattening of the cranioventral aspect of the vertebral body and craniodorsal tilting of the vertebral body into the vertebral canal [5]. Disk associated cervical spondylomyelopathy occurs in several adult to older large breed dogs. The adult Doberman pinscher is overrepresented in several studies [6,8,9]
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