Lumbar paraspinal muscle transverse area and symmetry in dogs with and without degenerative lumbosacral stenosis. (27th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Henderson, A. L.; Hecht, S.; Millis, D. L.
• Is Part Of: Journal of small animal practice. Volume 56:Number 10(2015:Oct.)
• Page Start: 618
• Page End: 622
• Publication Date: 2015-08-27
• Subjects: Veterinary medicine -- Periodicals; Veterinary Medicine -- Periodicals; 636.089
• DOI: 10.1111/jsap.12385
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-4510

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jsap12385-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="jsap12385-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>OBJECTIVES</title> <p id="jsap12385-para-0001">To investigate whether dogs with degenerative lumbosacral stenosis have decreased lumbar paraspinal muscle transverse area and symmetry compared with control dogs.</p> </sec> <sec id="jsap12385-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>MATERIALS AND METHODS</title> <p id="jsap12385-para-0002">Retrospective cross‐sectional study comparing muscles in transverse T2‐weighted magnetic resonance images for nine dogs with and nine dogs without degenerative ‐lumbosacral stenosis. Mean transverse area was measured for the lumbar multifidus and sacrocaudalis dorsalis lateralis muscles bilaterally and the L7 vertebral body at the level of the caudal endplate. Transverse areas of both muscle groups relative to L7 and asymmetry indices were compared between study populations using independent <italic><bold>t</bold></italic> tests.</p> </sec> <sec id="jsap12385-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>RESULTS</title> <p id="jsap12385-para-0003">Mean muscle‐to‐L7 transverse area ratios were significantly smaller in the degenerative lumbosacral stenosis group compared with those in the control group in both lumbar multifidus (0·84 ±0·26 <italic><bold>versus</bold></italic> 1·09 ±0·25; P=0·027) and sacrocaudalis dorsalis lateralis (0·5 ±0·15 <italic><bold>versus</bold></italic> 0·68 ±0·12; P=0·005) muscles. Mean asymmetry indices were higher for both muscles in the group with degenerative lumbosacral stenosis than in the control group, but highly variable and the difference was not statistically significant.</p> </sec> <sec id="jsap12385-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE</title> <p id="jsap12385-para-0004">These findings suggest that dogs with degenerative lumbosacral stenosis have decreased lumbar paraspinal muscle mass that may be a cause or consequence of the ‐syndrome. Understanding altered paraspinal muscle characteristics may improve understanding of the ‐pathophysiology and management options for degenerative lumbosacral stenosis.</p> </sec> </abstract>