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Neurological, imaging and pathological features of a meningeal inflammatory pseudotumour in a Maltese terrier
Author(s) -
Loderstedt S.,
Walmsley G. L.,
Summers B. A.,
Cappello R.,
Volk H. A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.2010.00931.x
Subject(s) - medicine , debulking , laminectomy , lesion , spinal cord , magnetic resonance imaging , neurological examination , differential diagnosis , spinal cord compression , gliosis , radiology , surgery , pathology , ovarian cancer , cancer , psychiatry
A five‐year eight‐month‐old Maltese terrier was presented with a 3‐week history of progressive paraparesis and pelvic limb ataxia. Neurological examination was consistent with a lesion involving the T3‐L3 spinal cord segments. Myelogram and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a spherical, intradural‐extramedullary mass lesion at T13/L1. A dorsal laminectomy, durotomy and debulking of the mass were performed. Histopathologic examination revealed a highly cellular tissue, most likely of mesenchymal origin, infiltrated by many lymphocytes, macrophages and neutrophils. The pathological diagnosis of an inflammatory pseudotumour was made. Postsurgical analgesia was achieved with opioids and 2 mg/kg carprofen twice daily for 5 days. When the histopathological diagnosis was made, a tapering course of 1 mg/kg prednisolone twice daily was prescribed, with dose reduction by approximately 50% every 4 to 6 weeks over a 4‐month period. Magnetic resonance imaging was repeated at 22, 32 and 85 weeks postsurgery; no signs of regrowth could be detected and the patient recovered with residual mild paraparesis. Inflammatory pseudotumour has not been documented previously at this site in dogs and, although rare, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a focal mass lesion affecting the spinal cord. Surgical debulking and immunomodulatory therapy can be curative.