OBSERVATION OF A SECONDARY COMPRESSIVE LESION AFTER TREATMENT OF CAUDAL CERVICAL SPONDYLOMYELOPATHY IN A DOG

In a 7-year-old Doberman Pinscher with an atactic gait, neurologic exa mination revealed tetraparesis, conscious proprioceptive deficits, and rigid ventral flexion of the neck. Radiography and myelography reveal ed a ventral, extradural, dynamic compressive lesion between C6 and C7 . Distraction decompression was performed, using cancellous bone screw s and methylmethacrylate. After initial improvement, clinical signs re curred 2 weeks after surgery and progressed until the dog was euthanat ized 6 weeks after surgery. Postmortem myelography revealed an extradu ral compressive lesion adjacent to the implant, between C5 and C6. Sec ondary compressive lesions induced by surgical or biomechanical altera tions of the cervical portion of the spine may be complications of tre atment of caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy.