Evaluation of Clinical, Radiological and Pathological Findings in the Identification of a Spinal Cord Lesion in a Paraplegic Dog

Abstract

The aim of this report describes the identification of an interesting spinal cord lesion developing in a 2 years old, male, hybrid dog due to being injured by gunshot. In the direct radiography of the patient diagnosed with clinic paraplegia was detected a bullet in the 9th-10th intercostal space at a distance of 2-3 cm away from the corpus vertebrae. While no abnormal findings were determined from direct and contrast radiography (myelography), through MRI, an area with a lesion at the T9-T10 level was identified on the spinal cord. At necropsy of the dog dying on the 10th day of case, a damaged area of 0.5 cm compatible with MRI findings was determined while examining the injured spinal cord. Besides, myelomalacia on spinal cord was recognized during histopathology evolution. As a result, this case report is presented so that it would be beneficial in the identification of both diagnosis and prognosis of the disease in similar cases our colleagues may come across.