Abstract
BackgroundThoracolumbar myelopathies associated with spinal cord and vertebral column lesions, with a similar clinical phenotype, but different underlying etiologies, occur in pugs.ObjectivesTo further characterize the clinical and neuropathological characteristics of pugs with longstanding thoracolumbar myelopathy.AnimalsThirty client‐owned pure‐bred pugs with a history of more than a month of ataxia and paresis of the pelvic limbs, suggesting a myelopathy localized to the thoracolumbar spinal cord, were included in the study.MethodsProspective clinicopathological study. Included pugs underwent a complete neurological examination and gross and histopathologic postmortem studies with focus on the spinal cord. Computed tomography (n = 18), magnetic resonance imaging (n = 17), and cerebrospinal fluid analysis (n = 27) were performed before or immediately after death.ResultsTwenty male and 10 female pugs had a median age at clinical onset of 84 months (interquartile range, 66‐96). Affected pugs presented with a progressive clinical course and 80% were incontinent. There was circumferential meningeal fibrosis with concomitant focal, malacic, destruction of the neuroparenchyma in the thoracolumbar spinal cord in 24/30 pugs. Vertebral lesions accompanied the focal spinal cord lesion, and there was lympho‐histiocytic inflammation associated or not to the parenchymal lesion in 43% of the pugs.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceMeningeal fibrosis with associated focal spinal cord destruction and neighboring vertebral column lesions were common findings in pugs with long‐standing thoracolumbar myelopathy.
Highlights
Thoracolumbar myelopathies associated with spinal cord and vertebral column lesions, with a similar clinical phenotype, but different underlying etiologies, occur in pugs
Pugs were included in the study provided that they fulfilled the following criteria: a history of more than 1 month of a bilateral pelvic limb gait abnormality described by the owner as incoordination and weakness, and a neurological examination confirming pelvic limb ataxia and paraparesis suggestive of a myelopathy localized to the thoracolumbar spinal cord
Midsagittal sections were performed of thoracolumbar vertebrae and intervertebral discs with macroscopically degenerative changes, and overt disc herniations on macromorphology, or where compression of the spinal cord had been demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Summary
Thoracolumbar myelopathies associated with spinal cord and vertebral column lesions, with a similar clinical phenotype, but different underlying etiologies, occur in pugs. Animals: Thirty client-owned pure-bred pugs with a history of more than a month of ataxia and paresis of the pelvic limbs, suggesting a myelopathy localized to the thoracolumbar spinal cord, were included in the study. There was circumferential meningeal fibrosis with concomitant focal, malacic, destruction of the neuroparenchyma in the thoracolumbar spinal cord in 24/30 pugs. Vertebral lesions accompanied the focal spinal cord lesion, and there was lympho-histiocytic inflammation associated or not to the parenchymal lesion in 43% of the pugs. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Meningeal fibrosis with associated focal spinal cord destruction and neighboring vertebral column lesions were common findings in pugs with long-standing thoracolumbar myelopathy
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