Fibrocartilaginous emboli as the cause of ischemic myelopathy in a dog.

Acute hemiplegia and Horner's syndrome developed in a 6-year-old female black Labrador Retriever 24 hours after a day of exercise. Radiographic, cerebrospinal fluid, and electromyographic studies did not detect the site or nature of the suspected cervical lesion. The dog showed no improvement after evaluation for 5 days on corticosteroid and antibiotic therapy. Gross and microscopic examination revealed the presence of an ischemic infarct in the C6 segment of the cervical spinal cord and associated fibrocartilaginous emboli. The nature of the clinical signs and the pathologic findings in this case are similar to previous reports of human and canine cases.