Prevalence and Heritability of Symptomatic Syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Long‐term Outcome in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Littermates

Background Syringomyelia (SM) is common in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCS). Dogs with syringes express clinical signs or might be clinically silent. Objectives To investigate the prevalence and heritability of symptomatic SM, the association between clinical signs and magnetic resonance ima...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of veterinary internal medicine Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 243 - 250
Main Authors:	Thøfner, M.S., Stougaard, C.L., Westrup, U., Madry, A.A., Knudsen, C.S., Berg, H., Jensen, C.S.E., Handby, R.M.L., Gredal, H., Fredholm, M., Berendt, M.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-01-2015 John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:	Aging Animal sciences Animals Chiari‐like malformation Cohort Studies Cross-Sectional Studies Data Collection Denmark - epidemiology Dog Dog Diseases - diagnostic imaging Dog Diseases - epidemiology Dog Diseases - genetics Dogs Ear diseases Epidemiologic Female Genetics Heritability Interviews as Topic Liability Magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic Resonance Imaging - veterinary Male Neck NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance Pain Population Population studies Prevalence Questionnaires Radiography Spinal cord Studies Syringes Syringomyelia - diagnostic imaging Syringomyelia - epidemiology Syringomyelia - genetics Syringomyelia - veterinary Denmark Genetics Chiari-like malformation Magnetic resonance imaging Dog Epidemiologic
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Summary:	Background Syringomyelia (SM) is common in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCS). Dogs with syringes express clinical signs or might be clinically silent. Objectives To investigate the prevalence and heritability of symptomatic SM, the association between clinical signs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, and long‐term outcome. Animals All CKCS registered in the Danish Kennel Club in 2001 (n = 240). Methods A cross‐sectional questionnaire‐based prevalence study validated by telephone interviews and clinically investigated clinical signs of SM. Dogs were 6 years at the time of investigation. A prospective observational litter study including clinical investigations, MRI and 5‐year follow‐up of symptomatic and asymptomatic siblings. Heritability was estimated based on the scale of liability in the study population and litter cohort. Results The cross‐sectional study estimated a prevalence of symptomatic SM at 15.4% in the population. Thirteen symptomatic and 9 asymptomatic siblings participated in the litter study. Spinal cord syringes were confirmed in 21 of 22 littermates (95%). Syrinx diameter and mean syrinx : spinal cord ratio were significantly correlated with clinical signs (P < .01). Estimated heritability of symptomatic SM was 0.81. Symptomatic SM motivated euthanasia in 20%. Dogs with syringes, which expressed no clinical signs at the age of 6, remained asymptomatic in 14/15 cases (93%). Conclusions and Clinical Importance The prevalence of symptomatic SM is high and genetics have a high impact on clinical disease expression. Further investigations of factors influencing the outbreak threshold of clinical signs of SM are desirable.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 The study was conducted at the Department of Veterinary Clinical and Animal Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Poster presentation of preliminary results at the ECVN/ESVN 26th Symposium, September 26–28th 2013, Paris.
ISSN:	0891-6640 1939-1676
DOI:	10.1111/jvim.12475