Cervical chondroid chordoma in a standard dachshund: a case report

Acta Vet Scand. 2011 Oct 21;53(1):55. doi: 10.1186/1751-0147-53-55.

Abstract

A ten-year-old male standard dachshund was presented with a history of neck pain and progressive gait disturbances. Following a neurological examination and diagnostic imaging, including CT, a neoplastic lesion involving the third and fourth cervical vertebrae was suspected. The lesion included an extradural mass on the right side of the spinal canal causing a local compression of the cervical cord. Surgery, using a modified dorsal laminectomy procedure, was performed in order to decompress the cervical spinal cord. Histopathological examination of the extradural mass indicated that the tumour was a chondroid chordoma. Following discharge, the quality of life for the dog was very good for a sustained period, but clinical signs recurred at 22 months. The dog was euthanased 25 months post-surgery. On post-mortem examination, a regrowth of neoplastic tissue was found to have infiltrated the bone and spinal cord at C3-C4. This is the first report to show that palliative surgery can offer successful long-lasting treatment of chondroid chordoma of the cervical spine in the dog.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cervical Vertebrae / pathology
  • Cervical Vertebrae / surgery*
  • Chordoma / pathology
  • Chordoma / surgery
  • Chordoma / veterinary*
  • Dog Diseases / pathology
  • Dog Diseases / surgery*
  • Dogs
  • Euthanasia, Animal
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Male
  • Spinal Cord Compression / etiology
  • Spinal Cord Compression / surgery
  • Spinal Cord Compression / veterinary*
  • Spinal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Spinal Neoplasms / surgery
  • Spinal Neoplasms / veterinary*
  • Treatment Outcome