MRI and CT features of a disc herniation through a fractured lumbar vertebra causing lumbar spinal cord compression in a dog.
Michele CapassoElena Dell'EraAndrea CarloniFederica BalducciSwan SpecchiMarco BernardiniPublished in: Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association (2023)
A 5-year-old intact male Saint Bernard was presented for paraparesis following a fall down the stairs. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a chronic fragmentation of the dorsocaudal aspect of the second lumbar vertebral body (L2). Material migrated from the L2 to L3 intervertebral space through the fractured caudal vertebral endplate into the vertebral body and reached the vertebral canal, resulting in a severe extradural compressive myelopathy. Computed tomography confirmed the vertebral fragmentation. Histology of surgically removed compressive material revealed fibrocartilaginous material. The uncommon route of the extruded disc material through a fractured vertebral body makes this case of traumatic disc extrusion unusual.