A report of Froin's syndrome in five ovine thoracolumbar epidural abscess cases.

An epidural abscess involving the thoracolumbar spinal cord was considered the probable cause of pelvic limb paresis in those sheep where analysis of lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples revealed a significant increase in protein concentration (P less than 0.05) and some increase in total white blood cell concentration and neutrophil percentage. There was no significant increase in protein concentration in the corresponding cisternal samples. This phenomenon caused by blockage to CSF flow is not dissimilar to that of Froin's syndrome in man which has been reported as a result of localized spinal meningitis (Brain, 1985).