Subacute necrotising encephalopathy in an Alaskan husky

A 29-month-old female Alaskan husky was presented recumbent, tetraparetic a nd in a state of dementia, with blindness and cranial nerve deficits. The d og's progress was followed for over two months, as the signs resolved to a non-progressive mild hypermetria with slight proprioceptive ataxia, a dimin ished menace response and inability to prehend food. Magnetic resonance ima ging (MRI) revealed bilateral cavitation extending from the thalamus to the medulla, with less pronounced degenerative lesions in the caudate nucleus, putamen and claustrum. Cerebrospinal fluid lactate and pyruvate concentrat ions were in their normal ranges. Necropsy and histological examination con firmed the MRI findings as well as neuronal degeneration of the cerebellar cortex in the vermis and degenerative changes in the neocortex at the depth s of the cerebral sulci. In view of the similarity of lesions to subacute n ecrotising encephalomyelopathy, known as Leigh's disease in humans, a tenta tive diagnosis of a mitochondrial encephalopathy was made.