Web-Vet Neurology Specialists
Spinal Cord Meningioma in a Dog - Pre & Post-Surgery
A 10-year-old female mixed breed dog presented with non-ambulatory tetraparesis with a 2-month history of chronic progressive history. The initial presentation can be seen at the start of the video. An MRI at the time of the presentation revealed a large, well-defined, and ovoid intradural-extramedullary lesion centered over the caudal C3 vertebral body on the right side. The lesion was heterogeneously T2W hyperintense, T1W hypointense, and T2* hyperintense with strong contrast enhancement. The lesion significantly compressed the cord and occupied approximately 60% of the cross-sectional area of the cord at its maximal extent.
A dorsal surgical approach and a durotomy were performed with resection of the lesion which was confirmed to be a grade II meningioma on histopathology. The video shows the 2 separate follow-up exams with the most recent one being 2 months after the surgery.
In a 2018 paper by Lacassagne et al (Vet Comp Oncol. 2018 Sep;16(3):344-351), a diagnosis of an extramedullary spinal cord meningioma was associated with a median survival time of 508 days and so a favorable prognosis can be achieved with surgery.
In an earlier paper by Petersen et al, no apparent correlation was found between the grade of tumor and imaging characteristics or long-term outcome in dogs with intraspinal meningiomas and there was a mean survival time of 19 months. This study also showed a potentially improved outcome in cases that were additionally treated with radiation - click on the link below to read this paper.
Courtesy of Dr. Koen Santifort.