Ruminant Neurology Flashcards
Otitis Media & Interna
- who gets it? how?
- pathogens
Cattle, sheep (goats)
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Secondary to respiratory infection:
Mannheimia hemolytica
Pasteurella multocida
Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis
Histophilus somni
Mycoplasma spp.
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Role of viruses unknown
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- Nasopharynx > auditory tube > middle ear
- external ear > middle ear
Otitis Media & Interna
- signs
- progression
- less common lesions?
Unilateral peripheral vestibular signs
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Middle ear infection may progress
> Inner ear
> Less common
=> Subdural abscess formation
=> Meningoencephalitis
=> Brain abscess formation
Otitis Media & Interna
- clinical signs
- Head shaking, ear droop
<><> - Vestibular signs:
Head tilt (towards lesion)
Continuous horizontal nystagmus (away
from lesion; “fast away”)
Imbalance
Circling (towards lesion)
<><> - Recumbency – tend to lay on side toward
lesion
<><> - May have facial nerve involvement
Ear, eyelid, muzzle
<><> - Less common
Fever
Purulent exudate
Otitis Media & Interna
Differential diagnosis
- Central vestibular disease
Depression, decreased awareness
Irregular nystagmus (direction varies)
Marked proprioceptive deficits
Otitis Media & Interna
- treatment
Many antibiotics (penicillin, oxytetracycline,
florphenicol, macrolides, fluoroquinolones (if legal))
Many need long-term treatment
Acute has better prognosis than chronic disease
Bacterial Meningitis
- etiology, risk factors
- source
Often result of bacteremia, septicemia
Often associated with failure of passive transfer of colostral antibodies
Bacterial source – respiratory, gastrointestinal, umbilicus
May result from direct extension from trauma
(including iatrogenic), other infections
Bacterial Meningitis
- Bacterial types – many
Gram-negative
Escherichia coli
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Salmonella spp.
Histophilus somni
Actinobacillus equuli
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Gram-positive
Streptococcus spp.
Staphyloccus spp.
Listeria monocytogenes
Bacterial Meningitis
- clinical signs
Primary disease site
Sites of bacterial localization in septicemia
Fever, depression, decreased suckling
Hyperesthesia, neck pain
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Skin stimulation – hyperresponsiveness
> Limb extensor reaction
> Muscle fasciculations
> Generalized frantic motions
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Cranial nerve signs
Progressive central signs – compulsive walking, stupor, coma, seizures
Bacterial Meningitis
- Differential diagnoses:
- Viral encephalitidies
<><> - Metabolic encephalosis
Hypomagnesemia, hypocalcemia, hypoglycemia
Hepatic encephalopathy
Renal encephalopathy
<><> - Encephalomalacias
Salt poisoning
Polioencephalomalacia
Bacterial Meningitis
Diagnostic testing
Physical examination
Complete blood count
Serum biochemistry profile
Immunoglobulin level (neonate)
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Cerebrospinal fluid analysis
> Routine – color, turbidity, nucleated cells, protein
> Gram-stain, bacterial culture
> Glucose level (infection <50% of blood level)
Bacterial Meningitis
- pathophysiology
- necropsy
Pathophysiology
Bacteria, endotoxins, cytokines, other
Thrombotic or hemorrhagic infarcts
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Necropsy
Congestion, swelling, inflammation, fibrin, infarcts, hemorrhages
Bacterial Meningitis
Treatment
Antibiotics –
Identify bacteria – Gram-stain, culture & sensitivity
Usually aerobic bacteria
Need to cross the BBB (lipid soluble, small molecule)
Bactericidal
Off-label
Typically: penicillin, ampicillin, trimethoprim sulfa
Ideally – 3rd or 4th generation cephalosporin (ceftiofur)
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Anti-inflammatory medication
NSAIDs
Anti-inflammatory dose corticosteroids
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Edema control
Seizure control
Supportive care: fluids, plasma, nutrition, nursing care
Pituitary Abscesses
- who gets this?
- location?
- pathogenesis
- age
Ruminants (rare in horses)
Sella turcica
Seed the rete mirabile (blood vessel
complex encircling the pituitary)
Expansive mass > brain
Age: usually 2 – 5 years of age; range 9
mo– 12 yrs
Pituitary Abscesses
Signs
- Ataxia, head & neck extension, base-wide stance, inappetence, depression, head pressing,
recumbency
<><> - Cranial nerve signs (may be asymmetric)
Dysphagia - Flaccid tongue
Blindness - Nystagmus
Anisocoria - Facial paralysis
decreased PLRs - Facial hypalgesia
Mydriasis - Head tilt
Strabismus
Nervous Coccidiosis
- pathogen
- who is affected
- when?
- type of disease?
- what causes the problems?
- mortality
- rare associated condition
Eimeria species – E. zuernii, E. bovis (cattle)
Calves, yearling cattle, sheep, goats
Winter months, feedlots
Cerebral cortical disease, encephalopathy
Heat-labile neurotoxin from parasite
High mortality (~70%)
(rarely blind)
Nervous Coccidiosis
Diagnosis, differentials, PM
Rule out other diseases
Analyze individual & herd mate feces for Eimeria spp. oocysts
Differential diagnosis: meningitis, salt poisoning, clostridial enterotoxemia, Vit A deficiency, lead poisoning, polioencephalomalacia, rabies, pseudorabies, ethylene glycol poisoning . . .
Necropsy – no gross CNS lesions, non-specific histologic findings (edema, congestion, occasional shrunken neuron)
Nervous Coccidiosis
Treatment
Coccidia – sulfas, amprolium
Fluids, electrolytes, glucose
Seizure control – diazepam, phenobarbital
Bovine Herpes Virus
- systems it affects
- strains
- risks
- who is affected
IBR – respiratory, ocular, genital, neuro
BoHV-1, BoHV-5
Role of stress?
Age: < 6 weeks of age but adults too
Bovine Herpes Virus - neurological signs
- encephalitis
Depression, mild nasal & ocular discharge
CP deficits, ataxia, vocalization, salivation, bruxism, tongue paralysis, head tilt, nystagmus, convulsions, blindness, coma, death