A field study of eight ovine vertebral body abscess cases

Authors: Murray LD, Penny CD, Scott PR
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 105-107, Sep 1991
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Inflammation, Bacterial, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Locomotor, Nervous system/neurology, Skeletal/bone/cartilage
Article class: Clinical Communication

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Abstract: A vertebral body abscess extending into the epidural space causing spinal cord compression was diagnosed in the cervical spinal cord in four lambs and the thoracic spinal cord in four lambs. The affected lambs were aged between 4 and 10 weeks andclinical signs had been present for 7-21 days before veterinary examination. Treatment with high doses of penicillin did not result in an improvement of the neurological signs and all lambs were destroyed on humane grounds. Collection and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed a significant increase in the protein concentration in lumbar compared to cisternal CSF samples. There was a neutrophilic pleocytosis in two lumbar CSF samples. In lambs aged between 4 and 10 weeks with no history of previous locomotor dysfunction, paresis of more than 1 week duration may be suggestive of a vertebral body abscess which has extended into the epidural space causing spinal cord compression. Stagnation of CSF caudal to the lesion results in an increased protein concentration in the lumbar spine.

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