Presumed cervical subperiosteal vertebral hemorrhage in nine greyhounds.

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous subperiosteal vertebral hemorrhages (SSVHs) are rarely documented in veterinary literature, with only a few cases reported in dogs.

Hypothesis/objectives: Describe the clinical presentation, imaging findings, and outcome of presumptive cervical SSVHs in dogs and perform a prospective cadaveric study describing the morphology of lesions.

Animals: Nine greyhounds presented with acute onset of cervical myelopathy.

Methods: Multicenter descriptive study. The databases were searched for dogs that underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), or both of cervical vertebral column with SSVH as the main or differential diagnosis.

Results: Nine middle-aged greyhounds met the inclusion criteria. On MRI, all lesions were at third cervical vertebra or fourth cervical vertebra or both vertebral bodies. Most were bilateral, symmetrical, and ventrolaterally located, causing spinal cord compression. Lesions showed homogeneous T2W hyperintense and T1W isointense to hyperintense signal relative to gray matter; they were non-contrast-enhancing and exhibited a peripheral rim of susceptibility artifact on T2*W images. On CT images, extradural lesions were homogeneously hyperattenuating (60-80 Hounsfield Units). All dogs had an acute onset of clinical signs and were treated medically. Clinical improvement was observed in all cases, and all nonambulatory dogs became ambulatory within 9 days. Clinical signs did not recur during the follow-up period (median, 254 days; range, 5-1217 days).

Conclusions and clinical importance: Spontaneous subperiosteal vertebral hemorrhage should be included in the differential diagnosis of acute onset cervical myelopathy in greyhounds. Imaging characteristics can aid in differentiating subperiosteal hemorrhage from other extramedullary or extradural lesions. The prognosis is excellent despite the severity of neurologic impairment at presentation.