What do we know about constrictive myelopathy in pugs?

JVIM 37(2): 618-625

Author

Ryan Appleby
May 21, 2023

Constrictive myelopathy (CM) is a newly recognized disease in pug dogs that causes chronic, progressive spinal cord compression. The authors of this article aimed to characterize the diagnosis and frequency of CM in pug dogs with thoracolumbar myelopathies, and to determine whether CM is related to other myelopathies such as intervertebral disc herniations (IVDH) and caudal articular process dysplasia (CAPD). They enrolled 32 pug dogs with a chronic, progressive T3-L3 myelopathy based on neurological examination and bloodwork, and performed CT and MRI of the thoracolumbar spine and spinal cord. They categorized the myelopathies as CM only, CM plus other non-CM conditions, or non-CM conditions, and recorded the sites and types of spinal cord and vertebral malformations. They also examined the necropsy specimens of 19 dogs for further confirmation. They found that 19 dogs had more than one myelopathy diagnosis on MRI, and that 19 dogs had more than one site of spinal cord compression. They also found that all dogs had CAPD at more than one site in the T3-L3 vertebral column on CT. They concluded that CM is a common and complex condition in pug dogs with thoracolumbar myelopathies, and that more research is needed to understand its pathogenesis and treatment.

(A) Sagittal T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) image of the thoracolumbar region displaying a hypointense ventral and dorsal spinal cord compression and focal spinal cord atrophy at the level of T12-T13 indicated by the arrows. (B) Transverse T1-weighted fat saturated postcontrast MR image of the same dog at level of T12 displaying a hypointense band of tissue predominantly dorsolateral to the spinal cord. There is contrast enhancement of the ventrolateral meninges and spinal cord atrophy at this location indicated by the asterisk.

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