Quantification of spinal ataxia in dogs with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Veterinary Science

Friederike Twele¹  Sebastian Meller¹  Alexandra Müller-Anders¹  Tamara Sherif¹  Holger A. Volk² 

[1] Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany;null;

关键词: spinal cord injury;    ataxia;    dog;    gait analysis;    locomotion;    movement;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fvets.2023.1183755

 received in 2023-03-10, accepted in 2023-07-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The clinical sign of ataxia is related to several neurological diseases and is seen in conjunction with paresis in dogs with spinal cord injury (SCI). Endeavours to objectify canine spinal ataxia in SCI remain limited. The aim of this clinical study was to determine and quantify differences between gait characteristics of ataxic dogs with thoracolumbar myelopathy and healthy control dogs using a computer-and treadmill-based gait analysis system. Five dogs with spinal ataxia and six healthy dogs underwent video-and computer-assisted gait analysis while walking on a four-ground reaction force plate treadmill system (maximum speed of 0.7 m/s). Spatio-temporal and kinetic gait characteristics regarding the dogs’ locomotion were analysed with a focus on the individual coefficient of variation (CV), as a potential measure for quantification of the level of ataxia. Ataxic dogs with thoracolumbar SCI showed no effect on symmetry indices but higher variability in spatio-temporal and kinetic gait parameters mainly in the pelvic, but also in the thoracic limbs. Double support phase of the individual limb was prolonged in SCI dogs at the cost of the single support and swing phase. Reduced peaks of ground reaction forces (GRF) could potentially be explained by reduction of muscle strength, as a strategy of avoiding falling by taking enthusiastic steps, or by alteration of the rhythmogenic spinal circuits between the pelvic and thoracic limb pattern generators.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Sherif, Twele, Meller, Müller-Anders and Volk.