Secondary Chronic Respiratory Acidosis in a Dog Following the Cervical Cord Compression by an Intradural Glioma.

Abstract

ABSTRACT. An intradural tumor in the upper cervical region was found in a dog with quadriparesis and chronic respiratory acidosis. Surgical removal of the tumor in the atlas and intraoperative radiotherapy were attempted. The tumor was histologically diagnosed as a neural glioma. A preoperative acid-base disturbance was dramatically improved after surgery. The clinical changes appeared in this case suggest that compression of the spinal cord at this region may cause paralysis of the respiratory muscles and secondarily result in chronic respiratory acidosis following the respiratory insufficiency.

Canine spinal cord glioma

“…22,31 The available veterinary medical literature confirms a predisposition for these areas, with multiple cases of glioma reportedly occurring mainly in the cervical and thoracolumbar segments. 3,5,7,[10][11][12]14,17,20,25,26,[28][29][30][31]33,34,36,38,[40][41][42]46,47 Only 3 cases in our study had grossly visible spinal cord lesions and, therefore, diagnostic confirmation was achieved based on histopathology and IHC in all cases. The absence of gross changes in 4 cases may be related to the fact that tumors were poorly demarcated and not clearly distinct from the adjacent spinal cord parenchyma.…”

“…4,7,11,12,28,31,38,40,42,45 Ependymal tumors are followed by astrocytoma (14 cases), 5,25,29,31,36,47 oligodendroglial tumors (10 cases), 17,20,26,31,41 gliomatosis cerebri (4 cases), 3,33,34 and unclassified glioma (3 cases). 10,14,30 Although IHC staining can aid immensely in refining the diagnosis of brain and spinal cord tumors, such tests were not done in many of the reported cases, which could alter the actual frequency of these glioma types in the canine population. Our report describes 7 additional cases of canine intramedullary spinal cord glioma diagnosed by histopathology and IHC.…”

“…22,31 The available veterinary medical literature confirms a predisposition for these areas, with multiple cases of glioma reportedly occurring mainly in the cervical and thoracolumbar segments. 3,5,7,10–12,14,17,20,25,26,28–31,33,34,36,38,40–42,46,47…”