Computed Tomography Findings in Spinal Compression in 196 Dogs
Abstract
Spinal cord lesion can be presented as acute, in cases of trauma such as fractures, hematomas and inflammation, or can progress slowly in some chronic diseases.
The aim of the study was to identify the sensitivity and specificity of CT examination in diagnostics of different causes of spinal compression in dogs. In this study, different cases with same nature of progressed signs and no findings on x-ray imaging were presented for investigation. All cases were demonstrated for spinal impact sings according to the neurological examination and were good candidates for CT imaging. The study was conducted on 196 dogs, evaluated through CT examination between 2015 and 2017. All dogs arrived with signs suggesting spinal cord lesion of varying degrees, those sings progressed with time but had no evident of spinal lesion in x-ray imaging. Different diagnostics were made based on the CT scans and the cases were divided based on that.
For the dogs in the study, signs of spinal compression were evaluated, being taken in consideration the presence of hypo or hyper attenuating material in the medullary canal, integrity of the spinal canal and the vertebral body, the values of A and H index, location of the spinal lesion and presence of vacuum phenomena.
Computed tomography examination of the vertebral column proved to be a valuable tool that completed the neurologic examination and show a high sensitivity (94.48%) and a high specificity (87.88%) in diagnostic of spinal cord compression.
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