Magnetic resonance imaging and neurologic characterization of combined osseous- and disc-associated cervical spondylomyelopathy in dogs

Cervical spondylomyelopathy (CSM), or wobbler syndrome, affects the cervical vertebral column in dogs, causing compression of the spinal cord and nerve roots. There are two main forms of CSM: disc-associated (DA-CSM), caused by intervertebral disc protrusion, and osseous-associated (OA-CSM), caused by bony proliferation. This study focuses on dogs with both DA-CSM and OA-CSM, examining MRI characteristics and neurologic findings to understand the combined condition better.

• 1
  A substantial percentage of dogs with CSM (26% in this study) present with both IVD protrusion and osseous changes, often at the same location.
• 2
  Dogs with concurrent osseous and disc-associated compressions at the same site were more likely to have a higher neurologic grade.
• 3
  There was a very strong correlation between degenerated IVDs and articular processes with surface degenerative changes and absent synovial fluid signal.