Upper Thoracic Disc Disease (T1–T9) inLarge-Breed Dogs

摘要

The purpose of this study was to identify large-breed dogs with intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) in the upper thoracic region(thoracic vertebrae 1–9 [T1–T9]). Medical records of all dogs that were diagnosed with IVDD on MRI between February 2008and September 2011 were reviewed. Of 723 dogs diagnosed with IVDD based on MRI, 527 (72.9%) were small-breed dogs.There were 21 (10.7%) large-breed dogs with IVDD in the T1–T9 region, whereas no small-breed dogs were identified withlesions in that region. The most common upper thoracic lesion sites were T2–T3 (33.3%) and T4–T5 (25.9%). The majorityof dogs with T1–T9 lesions were German shepherd dogs (52.4%). Larger, older dogs were more likely to have T1–T9 lesionsand more likely to have multiple regions with IVDD, in particular German shepherd dogs (35.1%). Dogs with T1–T9 IVDDwere more likely to have IVDD in another region (66.7%). All large-breed dogs presenting with T3–L3 myelopathy shouldhave diagnostic imaging performed of their entire thoracic and lumbar spine.