SPINE - malformation

Question 1

Which feline breed is overrepresented in thoracic vertebral canal stenosis?

Answer 1

British Shorthair -> narrower vertebral canal in this breed

Male neutered, median age 9 years
Chronic, progressive, painful, T3–L3 myelopathy

Question 2

Which IVDS is(are) most commonly affected in juvenile CSM?

Answer 2

C5-C6 & C6-C7

Mostly by osseous-associated spinal cord compression and multiple compressive sites. Almost half of the dogs had intervertebral disk degeneration. Intervertebral disk protrusion was seen in both giant and large breed dogs.

Question 3

German shepherd dog has most commonly a disc-associated CSM: true or false?

Answer 3

False

The 10 GSDs of the present retrospective case series had CSM that was often characterized by osseous changes and a ligamentous component and were older than dogs of other breeds (eg, Great Dane and Mastiff) with osseous-associated CSM described in previous reports.

Question 4

There is a male predisposition for spinal arachnoid diverticula: true or false?

Answer 4

True

Question 5

Which criteria can be used to pick breeding French Bulldog in order to reduce number of hemivertebrae?

Answer 5

Shorter tail associated with increase of number and grade of hemivertebrae.

Question 6

What are the associations between syringomyelia, caudal sac termination, pain, and spinal cord termination in CKCS?

Answer 6

TL SM -> more caudal dural sac termination

Lumbar SM -> more caudal SC termination

Painful without SM -> decreased distance between dural sac and SC termination = shorter filum terminale internum length

Question 7

More observed hemivertebrae and ventrolateral hypoplasia hemivertebra subtype were associated with higher likelihood of neurological disease: true or false?

Answer 7

False

Fewer hemivertebrae
Ventrolateral hypoplasia
Pugs
Severe kyphosis

Question 8

Which neural tube defect is associated with the following definition?Failure of the vertebral arch(es) to close over the spinal cord

Answer 8

Spina bifida

May be associated with MC or MMC
The terms occulta (no neural tissue involved), cystica/ manifesta/aperta (associated MC or MMC through vertebral defect) are used depending on the amount of neural and associated tissue involvement

Question 9

Which neural tube defect is associated with the following definition?Protrusion of meninges through open vertebral arch or cranial bones

Answer 9

Meningocele

Question 10

def spinal cord dysraphism

Answer 10

Failure of the neural folds to appose and close, resulting in failed neural tube closure

Question 11

def Myeloschisis

Answer 11

Failure of neural tube closure resulting in persistent attachment of the cutaneous ectoderm to the neural plate and inability of the vertebral arches to close around the open neural plate

Always results in spina bifida

Question 12

def meningomyelocele

Answer 12

Protrusion of meninges and nervous tissue through open vertebral arch

Question 13

Which neural tube defect is associated with the following definition?Failed separation of the neural tube from the skin ectoderm causing tubular sacs lined with hair follicles, sweat, and sebaceous glands that typically extends from the dorsal midline to underlying tissues

Answer 13

Dermal sinus tract

Duplication of FGF3, FGF4, FGF19, and ORAOV1 gene mutations responsible for the dorsal hair ridge in Rhodesian and Thai Ridgeback dogs predisposes these breeds

Question 14

Which neural tube defect is associated with the following definition?Any malformation of the spinal cord owing to abnormal interaction of the notochord, paraxial mesoderm, and neural plate during neurulation

Answer 14

Myelodysplasia

Note: “Weimaraner spinal dysraphism” owing to a frameshift mutation in the NKX2-8 gene is considered a misnomer and is more accurately described as myelodysplasia

Question 15

Which ligament provides the greatest stabilizing force of the canine atlanto-axial joint?

Answer 15

Alar
other ligt: apical, transverse

Question 16

Which vertebral abnormality is associated with lumbosacral stenosis in cats?
Is this factor associated with development of clinical signs?

Answer 16

Lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (54%)
No

Clinical signs associated with lumbosacral stenosis included lumbosacral pain, low tail carriage, difficulty jumping, and urinary or faecal incontinence.
Neurological signs included proprioceptive deficits, ambulatory paraparesis, pelvic limb ataxia, reduced spinal reflexes and reduced perianal reflex.

Question 17

Vertebral malformations: choose the INCORRECT

1. Among neurologically normal French Bulldogs, approximately 80% have radiographic evidence of hemivertebra with or without kyphosis
2. Pugs have much less prevalence of hemivertebra than French Bulldogs (around 17%) but do have other more frequent malformations like only 12 thoracic vertebra or transitional vertebra.
3. Pugs, even though they have less prevalence for hemivertebra than French Bulldogs, appear much more prone to be presented with clinically relevant hemivertebra than Bulldogs.
4. None of the above

Answer 17

4.

Question 18

In cranial thoracic myelopathies (T1-T6) in cats, the cutaneous trunci reflex is usually…

Answer 18

Normal (86%)

Question 19

Transitional vertebrae represented the most common abnormalities in the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral segments: true or false?

Answer 19

True

Question 20

Cite 3 hallmarks for radiologic diagnosis of atlanto-axial instability.

Answer 20

Dorsal displacement of the axis into the vertebral canal
Increased distance between the arch of the atlas and the spinous process of the axis
Hypoplasia, aplasia or dorsal angulation of the dens

Question 21

At what age the ossification of proatlas occurs? Fusion ossification center C1?

Answer 21

42 days
3-4 months

Question 22

AA instability: choose the incorrect

1.Dorsal and ventral surgical procedures have comparable success rates that are around 85%
2.Dorsal procedures have a higher incidence of postoperative neurological deficits
3.Acute onset of signs and younger age at onset are positive predictive factors for neurological success.
4.Postoperative atlantoaxial reduction and radiographic appearance of the dens was a positive predictive factor for neurological success

Answer 22

4.

Question 23

What are the most common sites of SAD?

Answer 23

C2-C3, C5, C6 (large breeds, in particular Rottweiler)
T9-T13 (small breeds, in particular Pug)