Surgical Repair of an Occipital Meningocele in a Foal

There are no previous reports of cranial meningocele in horses. In this report, we present the case of a 1-day-old male Quarter Horse that was born with a mass in the occipital region. The newborn was brought to the veterinary hospital, and a meningocele was diagnosed. The patient then underwent sur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of equine veterinary science 2019-10, Vol.81, p.102771-102771, Article 102771
Main Authors: Alonso, Juliana de M., Filho, Pedro T.H., Ávila, Alice R., Machado, Vânia M.V., Hataka, Alessandre, Bueno, Lais M.C., Alves, Ana Liz G., Hussni, Carlos A., Rodrigues, Celso A., Watanabe, Marcos J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacterial encephalitis
Computed tomography
Horse
Horse Diseases - surgery
Horses
Hydrocephalus - veterinary
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Meningocele - surgery
Meningocele - veterinary
Neural tube defect
Occipital Lobe
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:There are no previous reports of cranial meningocele in horses. In this report, we present the case of a 1-day-old male Quarter Horse that was born with a mass in the occipital region. The newborn was brought to the veterinary hospital, and a meningocele was diagnosed. The patient then underwent surgical closure of the defect. After an initial favorable response, the patient displayed signs of infection. The antibiotic therapy was changed, and the patient's condition improved. On the 13th postoperative day, the patient exhibited ataxia, difficulty standing, and limb hypertonia. Hydrocephalus was suspected, and a cerebrospinal puncture was performed. Because of the lack of improvement after the puncture and the high turbidity of the obtained fluid, bacterial encephalitis was suspected and antibiotic therapy restarted. The patient was euthanized on the 14th postoperative day when no response to therapy was observed. Postmortem tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed dilation of the encephalic ventricles with the presence of gas. On necropsy, bacterial encephalitis was confirmed, and multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli was isolated. This case suggests that surgical treatment of meningocele in horses is feasible; however, infectious complications may limit the long-term therapeutic success. •There are no previous reports of cranial meningocele in horses.•Neural tube closure defects are commonly reported in humans.•Surgical treatment of meningocele in horses is feasible.•Infectious complications may limit the long-term therapeutic success.
ISSN:0737-0806
1542-7412
DOI:10.1016/j.jevs.2019.06.010