Neuropathology- Recognising the abnormal

Question 1

What is the prevalence of neurological disease in dogs?

Answer 1

• Brain = 2.5%
• Spinal Cord = 2%

Question 2

What animal species has a 25% prevalence of pituitary tumours?

Answer 2

Rats

Question 3

Where do sensory nerves enter the spinal cord?

Answer 3

Via the dorsal root

Question 4

What is malacia?

Answer 4

softening and necrosis of nervous tissue, complete loss of architecture and cells

Question 5

What does malacia look like grossly?

Answer 5

cavitation and haemorrhage (e.g an abscess)

Question 6

Where does fibrosis occur?

Answer 6

Only in the meninges

Question 7

Why does fibrosis only occur in meninges?

Answer 7

Fibrogenic cells are restricted to meninges and perivascular

Question 8

Name 5 potential causes of traumatic brain injury

Answer 8

1. Road traffic collisions
2. Falls
3. Deliberate blunt force trauma
4. Penetrating wounds
5. Iatrogenic wounds

Question 9

What is the name of a lesion immediately below the site of an impact

Answer 9

Coup
* More severe if the head is stationary. but mobile, at impact

Question 10

What is a contre-coup?

Answer 10

Lesions away from the site of impact
* More severe if impact is with a stationary object

Question 11

What is contusion?

Answer 11

Injury to tissue without laceration

Question 12

What is contusion subdivided into?

Answer 12

• Contusion haemorrhages- vascular injury predominates
• Contusion necrosis- parenchymal injury is the principal feature

Question 13

What does spinal cord contusion look like?

Answer 13

• Damage to the microvasculature following impact
• More severe in grey matter
• haemorrhagic myelomalacia
• ascending and descending haemorrhagic myelomalacia

Question 14

What does spinal cord compression look like?

Answer 14

• When the spinal cord is narrowed
• resulting pathology- depends on the speed in which the compression develops

Question 15

What causes intervertebral disc disease in dogs?

Answer 15

herniated disc material normally moves dorsally
leads to compression of overlying spinal cord

Question 16

What does wobbler syndrome lead to?

Answer 16

leads to cord compression
occurs in large breed horses and dogs

Question 17

What does wobbler syndrome look like microscopically?

Answer 17

Axonal swelling follwed by necrosis

Question 18

What is an oligodendroglioma?

Answer 18

Growth of cells that starts in the brain

Question 19

What is a primary injury?

Answer 19

• Mechanical disruption of tissue
• Microvascular lesions (haemorrhage and oedema)

Question 20

What is a secondary/ delayed injury?

Answer 20

Occurs within hours -> days after injury
* cascade of changes leading to ischaemia and oedema
* frequently fatal

Question 21

What are the two main microvasculature damages?

Answer 21

• Haemorrhage
• Oedema

Question 22

What are the 4 places a haemorrhage can appear?

haematoma- focal accumulation of blood

Answer 22

• Epidural
• Subdural
• Subarachnoid
• Intracerebral

Question 23

What does oedema cause?

Answer 23

Compression of the CNS within the bony vault of the skull or vertebrae

can cause both primary and secondary injury

Question 24

What is myelomalacia?

Answer 24

Softening of the spinal cord

Question 25

What are the two types of contusion?

Answer 25

• Haemorrhagic myelomalacia
• Ascending and Descending Haemorrhagic myelomalacia

Question 26

What is the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc disease?

Answer 26

• Herniated disc material moves dorsally
• leads to compression of the overlying spinal cord