Medical infrared thermal imaging of syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

BACKGROUND: Medical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a non-invasive imaging modality gaining popularity in the veterinary field. An infrared camera captures emission of heat and creates a color map in the form of a thermogram. Topical heat emission is influenced by localized disease processes as a result of autonomic nervous system imbalance. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of using thermography to identify changes in thermographic patterns associated with syringomyelia (SM) presence or absence in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) with Chiari-like Malformation (CLM). RESULTS: In CKCS with CLM, MITI was most accurate at a texture distance of 6. Optimizing imaging feature sets produced a highest accuracy of 69.9% (95% CI: 59.5-79.0%), with 81.3% sensitivity and 57.8% specificity for identifying the presence of syringomyelia. CONCLUSION: Thermographic image analysis is a successful non-invasive, diagnostic test that can be used to screen for syringomyelia presence in a CKCS with CLM.

Medical infrared thermal imaging of canine appendicular bone neoplasia.

BACKGROUND: Medical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a noninvasive imaging modality used in veterinary medicine as a screening tool for musculoskeletal and neurological disease processes. An infrared camera measures the surface body heat and produces a color map that represents the heat distribution. Local trauma or disease can impair the autonomic nervous system, which leads to changes in the local dermal microcirculation and subsequent alteration of surface body heat. Disruption of autonomic flow to the cutaneous vasculature at deeper levels can also result in asymmetric thermographic results. The purpose of this study was to evaluate surface temperature differences between limbs affected by bone neoplasia and their normal contralateral limbs. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in average temperature was noted between regions of interest of the two groups (paired difference: 0.53 C° ± 0.14; P = 0.0005). In addition, pattern recognition analysis yielded a 75-100% success rate in lesion identification. CONCLUSIONS: Significant alterations noted with average temperature and thermographic patterns indicate that MITI can document discernible changes associated with the presence of canine appendicular bone tumors. While MITI cannot be used as the sole diagnostic tool for bone cancer, it can be used as a screening modality and may be applicable in early detection of cancer.

Effect of durotomy on functional outcome of dogs with type I thoracolumbar disc extrusion and absent deep pain perception.

Spinal cord durotomy is performed as a diagnostic aid in determining spinal cord structural integrity, and this may be useful as an indicator of prognosis in cases with loss of deep pain perception (DPP). It has been suggested that a durotomy may relieve intramedullary compression but there is some debate about the therapeutic value. The purpose of this study was to compare ambulatory outcome of dogs that had loss of DPP treated with hemilaminectomy with durotomy versus hemilaminectomy without durotomy. Medical records of 81 dogs diagnosed with type I thoracolumbar IVD were reviewed. Dogs were included in the study if DPP was absent upon initial neurological examination and surgical decompression via hemilaminectomy was performed. Of the 81 cases, 48 were included in this study. The number of dogs that recovered ambulatory function were compared between durotomy and non-durotomy groups with a chi-squared test (p < 0.05). No differences were found. The findings of this study suggest that durotomy is useful as a diagnostic modality and that performing a durotomy does not significantly affect post-operative recovery of voluntary motor function.

Craniocervical junction abnormalities in dogs.

Craniocervical junction abnormality (CJA) is a term that encompasses a number of developmental anatomical aberrations at the region of the caudal occiput and first two cervical vertebrae. Chiari-like malformation appears to be the most common CJA encountered in dogs, and there has been a tremendous amount of clinical investigation into this disorder in recent years. Other abnormalities in this region include atlanto-occipital overlap, dorsal constriction at C1/C2 and atlantoaxial instability. This review article presents an overview of the current understanding of CJA in dogs, as well as medical and surgical treatment options available.