• Home
  • About
  • Articles
  • Books
  • Contact

Veterinary Radiology

Teaching and learning about veterinary diagnostic imaging.

  • Modality
    • Radiographs
    • Ultrasound
    • CT/MRI
  • Region
    • Thorax
    • Abdomen
    • Musculoskeletal
    • Neurologic
  • Species
    • Canine
    • Feline
    • Equine
    • Exotic

2 year old Boxer

October 26, 2015 By Allison Zwingenberger

Today’s case is a 2-year-old male neutered Boxer with one-month history of thoracolumbar pain and two weeks of paraparesis. The patient cries when getting up and has a poor appetite.

2_T1
3_T2
4_contrast
5_axT1L2
6_axT2L2
7_axT1L2_contrast
8_axT1L7
9_axT1L7_contrast
10_slln
11_slln_ax
1
12_1mo
13_2mo

Show findings...

Findings

On the sagittal MR images, there is destruction of the endplates of the L2-L3 and L7-S1 vertebrae with hyperintense tissue ventral to the intervertebral disc spaces. On T2 and post-contrast images (3,4,6,7,9), the vertebral bodies and ventral tissue are hyperintense and contrast-enhancing. The axial images through the affected disc spaces show the enhancing tissue within the vertebral bodies. There is no evidence of spinal cord compression at these sites.

On abdominal ultrasound, there were enlarged medial iliac lymph nodes lateral to the aorta (images 10,11).

Image one was taken during fluoroscopic aspirate of the L2-3 lesion. There is destruction of the endplates of L2 and L3, and widening of the intervertebral disc space. The spondylosis deformans at this site and adjacent disc spaces is irregular, but there was no evidence of discospondylitis cranial to L2-3 on MR. Image 12 was taken 1 month after initiating treatment, and there is better definition of the endplates at both sites with surrounding sclerosis. Image 13 was taken 2 months after starting treatment and shows further healing of the lesions.

Show diagnosis…

Diagnosis

Discospondylitis – Staphylococcus intermedius

Show discussion…

Discussion

The lesions in this dog are classic for discospondylitis. It is the only disease that affects the intervertebral disc space in a symmetric fashion. The diagnosis was obtained by aspirate of the L2-3 disc space with fluoroscopic guidance. The L5-7 disc spaces are much more difficult to access because of the ilial wings.

Blood and urine cultures were negative, however this disease is usually a result of bacteremia. The CBC and high globulins were supportive of an infectious process.

Healing of these lytic lesions usually results in fusion of the two vertebral bodies with ventral spondylosis. Radiographic healing can lag behind clinical improvement by 3 weeks.

Case originally posted on June 18, 2007

Filed Under: Abdomen, Canine, Case of the Day, CT/MRI, Radiographs, Ultrasound

Comments

  1. tilde says

    June 20, 2007 at 6:21 am

    This dog had radiographic signs of discospondylitis; symmetrical lysis in the vertebral bodies adjacent to the end-plates – you see this sign in L1-L2 -, but you can see spondylosis in other vertebral bodies. Discospondylitis most often affects the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae of young and middle-aged, large-breed male dogs. Single or multiple-site lesions occur. Staphylococcus aureus and Brucella species have been reported as causative bacterial agents.

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
AtlasCover787x1024 amazon-availablenow

Veterinary Radiology News

Sign up for alerts about new cases and newsletters.

We will respect your privacy.

Archives

Recent Comments

Tags

abscess adenocarcinoma bronchiectasis carcinoma cardiomyopathy coccidioidomycosis discospondylitis elbow dysplasia eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy erosive polyarthritis feline infectious peritonitis FIP foreign body fracture gastric dilation gastric foreign body gastrointestinal GDV heart failure hemangiosarcoma hiatal hernia histiocytic sarcoma hypertrophic cardiomyopathy intestinal foreign body linear foreign body lymphoma megaesophagus osteochondrosis osteomyelitis osteosarcoma patent ductus arteriosus PDA pericardial effusion pneumonia pneumothorax polyarthritis PPDH pulmonary pulmonary abscess pulmonary adenocarcinoma pulmonary carcinoma sarcoma thymoma tracheal collapse vascular ring anomaly

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in