Clinical Condition and Description of Clinical Presentation (Marchevsky and Richardson 1999): A Rottweiler, 8 years of age, reported with ataxia in the hindlimbs, in addition to patellar hyperreflexia together with deficits in proprioception and posture. Neck pain was also presented. Although some mild ataxia was reportedly seen in the forelimbs, proprioception and reflexes were normal. This was enough evidence to suggest a cervical spinal cord lesion.
Radiographs obtained under sedation, showed a reduction of the intervertebral disc space between cervical vertebrae C5 and C6 as well as collapse of the intervertebral disc space between cervical vertebrae C6 and C7. Disc calcification was not evident.
Myelography supported the diagnosis of …show more content…
Spinocerebellar Tract
The function of the spinocerebellar tract is to assess proprioceptive information and to relay this information to the cerebellum in order to coordinate movement of the distal limbs. (Barker et al 2012)
There are two pathways which make up the spinocerebellar tract:
- Dorsal spinocerebellar tract: this conveys the sensory information from the hindlimb muscle spindle receptors to the cerebellum.
- Ventral spinocerebellar tract: this conveys the sensory information from the spinal cord and its interneurons, to the cerebellum. (Barker et al 2012)
With cervical spondylomyelopathy, there are more deficits present in the gait of the hindlimbs than the forelimbs. This is due to the compression of the spinocerebellar tracts, which is more severe than the compression of the dorsal funiculus which contains the proprioceptive tracts of the forelimbs. The spinocerebellar tracts aid to convey the proprioceptive information from the hindlimbs. Without this input, conscious proprioception is compromised. Ataxia is also frequently observed. This is a typical indicator of insufficient subconscious proprioception (Thomson et al
Radiographs obtained under sedation, showed a reduction of the intervertebral disc space between cervical vertebrae C5 and C6 as well as collapse of the intervertebral disc space between cervical vertebrae C6 and C7. Disc calcification was not evident.
Myelography supported the diagnosis of …show more content…
Spinocerebellar Tract
The function of the spinocerebellar tract is to assess proprioceptive information and to relay this information to the cerebellum in order to coordinate movement of the distal limbs. (Barker et al 2012)
There are two pathways which make up the spinocerebellar tract:
- Dorsal spinocerebellar tract: this conveys the sensory information from the hindlimb muscle spindle receptors to the cerebellum.
- Ventral spinocerebellar tract: this conveys the sensory information from the spinal cord and its interneurons, to the cerebellum. (Barker et al 2012)
With cervical spondylomyelopathy, there are more deficits present in the gait of the hindlimbs than the forelimbs. This is due to the compression of the spinocerebellar tracts, which is more severe than the compression of the dorsal funiculus which contains the proprioceptive tracts of the forelimbs. The spinocerebellar tracts aid to convey the proprioceptive information from the hindlimbs. Without this input, conscious proprioception is compromised. Ataxia is also frequently observed. This is a typical indicator of insufficient subconscious proprioception (Thomson et al