Cholesterol masses in association with spinal cord infarction due to intervertebral disc emboli.

The clinical and autopsy findings are presented from three dogs with spinal cord infarction. At autopsy firm gritty masses and cystic areas were present within the spinal cord. The masses contained numerous cholesterol clefts, collagen and reticulin fibres and were accompanied by a macrophage, giant cell and lymphocytic response. The cholesterol masses were present mainly in white matter. The ventral spinal artery or its branches as well as pial arteries contained fibrillary masses often covered by endothelial cells. The staining characteristics of these emboli suggested that they were fibro-cartilagenous and probably derived from the intervertebral discs. It is assumed that the cholesterol masses were formed from myelin breakdown products within infarcted areas.