Presumptive spontaneous brain microhemorrhages in geriatric dogs: a comparative retrospective MRI study of dogs with and without evidence of canine cognitive dysfunction
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Author and article information
Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare specific brain MRI anatomic measurements between three groups of geriatric ( > 8yrs) dogs: 1) neurologically impaired dogs with presumptive spontaneous brain microhemorrhages and no clinical evidence of canine cognitive dysfunction 2) dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction 3) dogs without clinical evidence of cognitive impairment or abnormalities on neurologic examination (control dogs). MR images from 46 geriatric dogs were reviewed and measurements were obtained of interthalamic adhesion height (thickness) and mid-sagittal interthalamic adhesion area for all dogs, in addition to total brain volume. Interthalamic adhesion measurements, either absolute or normalized to total brain volume were compared between groups. Signalment (age, breed, sex), body weight, presence and number of SBMs, as well as other abnormal MRI findings were recorded for all dogs. All interthalamic adhesion measurement parameters were significantly (p<0.05) different between control dogs and affected dogs. Both dogs with cognitive dysfunction (12/13; 92 %) and dogs with isolated brain microhemorrhages had more microhemorrhages than control dogs (3/19; 16%). Affected dogs without cognitive dysfunction had more microhemorrhages than dogs with cognitive dysfunction. In addition to signs of cognitive impairment for the CCD group, main clinical complaints for SBM and CCD dogs were referable to central vestibular dysfunction, recent-onset seizure activity, or both. Geriatric dogs with spontaneous brain microhemorrhages without cognitive dysfunction have similar MRI abnormalities as dogs with cognitive dysfunction but may represent a distinct diseasecategory.
Cite this as
2019. Presumptive spontaneous brain microhemorrhages in geriatric dogs: a comparative retrospective MRI study of dogs with and without evidence of canine cognitive dysfunction. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27868v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27868v1note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
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This is a submission to PeerJ for review.
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Supplemental Information
Raw volumetric data for all dogs identified via search criteria
Signalment, body weight and hemorrhage numbers for SBM dogs
Signalment, body weights and microhemorrhage numbers for CCD dogs
Additional Information
Competing Interests
Drs. Dewey, Rishniw, Johnson and Davies are faculty members at Cornell University. Dr. Dewey is also a paid consultant at both LIVS (Long Island Veterinary Specialists) and VSES (Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Services of Rochester). Mr. Joseph Sackman and Ms. Marissa O'Donnell are employees of LIVS.
Author Contributions
Curtis W Dewey conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Mark Rishniw conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper.
Philippa J Johnson authored or reviewed drafts of the paper.
Emma S Davies conceived and designed the experiments, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper.
Joseph J Sackman performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools.
Marissa O'Donnell performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools.
Animal Ethics
The following information was supplied relating to ethical approvals (i.e., approving body and any reference numbers):
This is a retrospective MRI investigation and therefore does not require IACUC approval.
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
Raw volumetric for all dogs are provided in an excel sheet. These are data for all 45 dogs. Tables are also provided in two word files summarizing signalment data, body weights and hemorrhage numbers per dog
Funding
The authors received no funding for this work.
