Severe hydrocephalus in a raccoon dog (<i>Nyctereutes procyonoides</i>)

Abstract

Hydrocephalus is one of the most common central nervous system malformations in domestic dogs, yet they are poorly documented and studied in wild carnivoran mammals. A pup of raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) was rescued and brought to Wildlife Center. The pup showed generalized ataxia, a domed skull, and an open bregmatic fontanelle. Ultrasound and MRI showed severe enlargement of the lateral ventricle with the loss of septum pellucidum resulting in a single large ventricle and cervical syringohydromyelia. Although treatment was attempted, the animal was euthanized due to poor prognosis. At necropsy, macroscopic findings were identical to the diagnostic imaging, where marked enlargement of the calvarium, and attenuated gyri and sulci were observed. Finally, hydrocephalus was confirmed. Here, we describe a case of hydrocephalus in a raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides).

TRPV4 mRNA is elevated in the caudate nucleus with NPH but not in Alzheimer’s disease

“…In our unbiased assortation of chromosome numbers in ten species, we found, as expected, that primates (orangutans) have chromosome numbers consistent with those of humans. However, dogs, a species commonly used for neurosurgical studies ( Dombrowski et al, 2006 ; Park et al, 2010 ; Gomes et al, 2020b ; a ; Hasegawa, 2020 ; Olszewska et al, 2020 ; Ito et al, 2021 ; Lee et al, 2021 ), have significantly more chromosomes (78), suggesting reconsiderations regarding the appropriateness of the canine model for certain genetic studies.…”