Page 27 - Eclipse - Autumn/Winter 2023

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Page 27 - Eclipse - Autumn/Winter 2023
P. 27

CLINICAL NEWS


        A week in Neurology and Neurosurgery





               he Neurology and Neurosurgery   improvement as he embarks on a process   of the few veterinary services worldwide
               Service at ºÚÁÏÉç Small Animal   of rehabilitation, including hydrotherapy,   where this complex surgery can be offered.
               Referrals sees a wide variety of   supervised by our dedicated
        Tcases each week. Here, the team    physiotherapist and nursing team.   Jeremy’s surgery took most of the day,
                                                                                with a team of vets and nurses from
        takes you through a week in the service,                                multiple specialist services involved
        drawing on a selection of cases.
                                                                                in his care, from the Anaesthesia and
        Monday: Our week started with a                                         Analgesia team in theatre, to our Internal
        French bulldog called Lillibet, who arrived                             Medicine and Emergency and Critical
        with some unusual muscle twitches on                                    Care colleagues after surgery. Jeremy
        the left side of her face. An MRI scan of                               recovered smoothly from his procedure
        Lillibet’s head revealed that the cause                                 and was observed closely in the
        was a nasty infection of her left inner ear,                            following days.
        extending around part of her brain.
                                                                                Thursday: Lovely Reg, a nine-year-
                                                                                old dachshund, presented following
                                                                                several days of back pain and hind
                                                                                limb weakness. In chondrodystrophic
                                                                                (short-legged) dog breeds, such as
                                                                                dachshunds, this is very characteristic for
                                                                                an intervertebral disc extrusion.

                                            Wednesday: The day was a big one for
                                            Jeremy, a 13-year-old male cat undergoing
                                            transsphenoidal hypophysectomy –
                                            surgery to remove a tumour in his pituitary
                                            gland close to his brain. Jeremy’s tumour
                                            had been producing excessive amounts
                                            of growth hormone, causing the condition
                                            acromegaly and uncontrollable diabetes
                                            mellitus. Fortunately, with our expert
                                            multidisciplinary team, the ºÚÁÏÉç is one




                                                                                Unfortunately, his ability to walk
                                                                                deteriorated further and a CT scan of
        She was therefore transferred to our                                    his spine revealed a large intervertebral
        Soft Tissue Surgery Service, where she                                  disc extrusion in his lower back. To
        underwent surgery to resect her infected                                relieve the compression of Reg’s spinal
        ear canal, along with the infectious                                    cord, he was taken to theatre where
        material. Following this, Lillibet was                                  our skilled neurosurgeons performed
        prescribed a course of antibiotics to                                   a decompressive hemilaminectomy to
        continue to battle the infection.
                                                                                remove the extruded disc.
        Tuesday: A sweet West Highland                                          Reg recovered very well from his surgery
        white terrier, Mortimer, presented having                               and was already attempting to walk the
        suddenly lost the use of his back legs                                  following day. He subsequently had
        while in the garden. Following an urgent                                physical therapy, under the watchful eyes
        MRI scan, he was diagnosed with a                                       of our nursing team and physiotherapist.
        fibrocartilaginous embolism, a stroke-like
        lesion causing damage to the spinal cord.                               Friday: A seven-year-old male Border
                                                                                collie, Alf, was referred following a sudden
        Given the severity of his signs, he                                     onset of a head tilt and being unable to
        was given a guarded prognosis for a                                     stand. On examination, it was clear to
        full recovery. However, Mortimer is a                                   our neurologists that Alf had suffered a
        determined character, and we have                                       very sudden insult to a part of his nervous
        our fingers crossed that he will show
                                                                                system involved in controlling balance.

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