Fibrocartilaginous embolic myelopathy in dogs: a retrospective study

• Published in: Canadian veterinary journal Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 63 - 68
• Main Authors: Dunié-Mérigot, Antoine, Huneault, Louis, Parent, Joane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: Canada 01-01-2007
• Subjects: Animals; Cartilage; Dog Diseases - epidemiology; Dog Diseases - pathology; Dogs; Embolism - complications; Embolism - epidemiology; Embolism - pathology; Embolism - veterinary; Female; Male; Retrospective Studies; Severity of Illness Index; Spinal Cord Diseases - epidemiology; Spinal Cord Diseases - etiology; Spinal Cord Diseases - pathology; Spinal Cord Diseases - veterinary
• ISSN: 0008-5286

The clinical aspects of 26 dogs suspected of fibrocartilaginous embolic myelopathy (FEM) were documented and compared to results from 2 studies published in the literature. The short-term recovery capacity of 15 of these patients was also evaluated during a 30 day period by giving a neurological score. We have observed, compared to other studies, a larger proportion of cervical localization (15.4%) as well as a larger variety of race sizes for FEM. We have established that, after 30 days, 67% of patients had improved and that 88% of non-ambulatory patients had regained their ambulatory capacity. Also, patients showing signs of grey matter lesions (inferior motor neuron--IMN) as well as those having white matter lesions (superior motor neuron--SMN) had shown signs of neurological progress. Therefore, we have observed that the recovery capacity of an animal suffering from FEM does not seem to be impacted by its initial ambulatory state, nor by its lesions to IMN or SMN, although the low number of cases does not allow us to positively confirm this situation.