Merck Manual

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Overview of Diseases of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals

By

William B. Thomas

, DVM, DACVIM-Neurology, Small Animal Neurology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee

Reviewed/Revised Oct 2021 | Modified Nov 2021

Diseases of the spinal column and cord include congenital disorders, degenerative diseases Degenerative Diseases of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals Cervical spondylomyelopathy, also called cervical vertebral malformation-malarticulation and wobbler syndrome, is compression of the spinal cord caused by abnormal development of the cervical... read more Degenerative Diseases of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals , inflammatory and infectious diseases Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals Infectious and inflammatory diseases of the spinal column and spinal cord include bacterial, rickettsial, viral, fungal, protozoal, and parasitic infections and idiopathic inflammatory disease... read more Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals , neoplasia Neoplasia of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals Also see Neoplasia of the Nervous System. Lateral view myelogram showing a filling defect at T13 (arrow) in a dog with spinal meningioma. Ventrodorsal view myelogram showing expansion of the... read more Neoplasia of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals , nutritional disorders Nutritional Disorders of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals Deficiency of copper causes CNS disease in sheep, goats, and pigs. Swayback is the congenital form of copper deficiency in lambs and is characterized by degeneration and necrosis of the cerebrum... read more , trauma Trauma of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals Lateral radiographic view of a dog with a fracture of the L5 vertebral body and L5-L6 luxation with ventral displacement of the caudal segment. Postoperative lateral radiographic view of a dog... read more Trauma of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals , toxic disorders Toxicoses of the Spinal Column and Cord in Animals Arsenic poisoning (toxicosis) can occur in swine because of an overdose of organoarsenicals, which are often used as feed additives to promote growth and to control swine dysentery. With 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic... read more , and vascular diseases Vascular Diseases of the Spinal Cord in Animals Infarction of the spinal cord can be caused by occlusion of spinal cord arteries or veins (or both) with fragments of fibrocartilage, believed to arise from the intervertebral disks. Fibrocartilaginous... read more Vascular Diseases of the Spinal Cord in Animals . Many of these diseases are discussed in full in other chapters and are only briefly described here. For a discussion of congenital disorders related to the spinal column and cord, see Congenital and Inherited Anomalies of the Nervous System Congenital and Inherited Anomalies of the Nervous System .

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