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Progressive tetraparesis and laryngeal paralysis in a young Rottweiler with neuronal vacuolation and axonal degeneration: an Australian case
Author(s) -
EGER CE,
HUXTABLE CRR,
CHESTER ZC,
SUMMERS BA
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1998.tb12301.x
Subject(s) - tetraparesis , medicine , larynx , pathology , laryngeal paralysis , ataxia , atrophy , spinal cord , paralysis , anatomy , progressive muscular atrophy , amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , disease , surgery , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology , psychiatry
A 5‐month‐old female Rottweiler dog was diagnosed to have a neurodegenerative disease that has been recently report ed in Rottweilers from North America and Europe. The dog was presented with progressive signs of ataxia, tetraparesis and inspiratory stridor. The clinical investigation included analysis of CSF, radiography, myelography and electrophysiolog‐ical testing. No evidence of vertebral malformation or inflammatory CNS disease was identified. Bilateral laryngeal paraly sis was identified in the lightly anaesthetised dog. Electromyography showed abnormal spontaneous activity from the intrin sic musculature of the larynx. At necropsy there were no gross abnormalities of the nervous system but there was atrophy of the dorsal cricoarytenoid muscles of the larynx. There were widespread histological abnormalities throughout the ner vous system including neuronal vacuolation, spongiform changes in the neuropil and axonal degeneration which was most prominent in the spinal cord. These clinical and pathological findings are consistent with the diagnosis of a new neurode‐generative disease reported from North America and Europe. This diagnosis is of particular significance in Australia where transmissible spongiform encephalopathies have not been identified.