title: Necrotizing meningoencephalitis associated with cortical hippocampal hamartia in a Pekingese dog.
abstract: A 4-year-old male Pekingese dog was referred to the clinic with a history of recurrent seizures and progressive abnormal gait and behavior, which did not respond to treatment. At necropsy, a large cortical defect in the right temporo-parietal cortex, malacia of subcortical white matter, right basal nuclei, and capsula interna, as well as abnormalities of the right hippocampus were observed. Histological examination of the brain revealed moderate to severe nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis in the left cerebral hemisphere and extensive infarction-like lesions with milder inflammation in the right hemisphere. In the right hippocampus, the pyramidal cells were arranged in a gyrus-like pattern and intermingled with gemistocytic and fibrillary astrocytes. The histopathological features of the inflammatory lesions were consistent with necrotizing meningoencephalitis and resembled those described in so-called Pug dog encephalitis. The hippocampal changes were interpreted as dysplasia (monolateral hippocampal cortical hamartia), unrelated to clinical signs and necrotizing inflammatory lesions.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Italy. ccantile@vet.unipi.it
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantile
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chianini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arispici
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fatzer
mesh_terms: D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004285:Dogs; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D009336:Necrosis; D010406:Penicillins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010634:Phenobarbital / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D000927:Anticonvulsants; D010406:Penicillins; D003907:Dexamethasone; D000658:Amoxicillin; D010634:Phenobarbital