Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features, and pathological findings of spinal lymphoma in 27 cats
Lorenzo Fernández, Valentina (Neurología Veterinaria)
Ribeiro, João (Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias de Lisboa)
Bernardini, Marco (Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padua)
Mínguez, Juan J. (Scarsdale Vets-Pride Veterinary Centre)
Moral Solés, Meritxell (Neurología Veterinaria)
Blanco, Carlos (Neurología Veterinaria)
Loncarica, Tina (Anicura Ospedale Veterinario I Portoni Rossi)
Gamito, Araceli (Hospital Veterinario Guadiamar)
Pumarola i Batlle, Martí (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	This multicentric retrospective study describes the clinical and MRI features and pathological studies of spinal lymphoma in 27 cats. MRI characteristics and their possible correlations with histopathological findings were studied. The most frequent neurological signs were rapidly progressive paraparesis (62. 9%) or paraplegia (22. 2%). Bimodal age distribution was found with 40. 7% of cats aged ≤2. 5 years (63. 6% of them FeLV positive), and 44. 4% of cats aged ≥8 years (16. 7% of them FeLV positive). Spinal lymphoma was generally presented on MRI as an ill-defined epidural focal lesion with moderate to severe spinal cord compression, expanding more than one vertebral body. MRI lesions were typically localized in the lumbar vertebral segment (p = 0. 01), circumferential to the spinal cord (p = 0. 04), hyperintense on T2-weighted sequences (p = 4. 3e-06), and isointense on T1-weighted sequences (p = 8. 9e-07). The degree and pattern of contrast enhancement were variable. Other morphological patterns included paravertebral masses with extension into the vertebral canal and lesions centered in the spinal nerve roots. Involvement of vertebrae and adjacent spinal soft tissues was present in 74% of cases when present vertebral involvement was characterized by cortical sparing. When follow-up MRI studies (n = 4) were performed after treatment new lesions of similar nature but different localizations and extension were observed. Confirmation of spinal lymphoma was performed by CSF analysis in 4/27 (14. 8%) of cases, by FNA in 6/27 (22. 2%) of cases, by surgical biopsy in 10/27 (37%) of cases, by FNA and surgical biopsy in 1/27 (3. 7%) of cases, by CSF, FNA, surgical biopsy and postmorten examination in 1/27 (3. 7%) of cases, and postmorten studies in 5/27 (18. 5%) of cases. Antemortem diagnosis was achieved in 22/27 (81. 5%) cats. The presence of necrosis in histopathological studies as an unfavorable prognostic indicator of survival was significantly more probable when lesions were not hyperintense on T2-weighted sequences (p = 0. 017). Spinal lymphoma in cats is a complex entity with heterogeneous imaging and histopathological appearance. However, certain MRI features may support a tentative diagnosis, which in a group of cases can be confirmed when combined with the CSF findings. For the rest of the cases, tissue sampling assisted by imaging findings remains necessary for definitive diagnosis.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Feline ; MRI ; Imaging ; Neoplasia ; Spinal cord ; CSF ; Cytology ; Histopathology
Published in:	Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Vol. 9 (october 2022) , ISSN 2297-1769

DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.980414
PMID: 36337180

23 p, 2.3 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles