Clinical Presentation, Diagnostic Findings, and Long-term Survival Time in 182 Dogs With Meningoencephalitis of Unknown Origin From Central Europe That Were Administered Glucocorticosteroid Monotherapy

Abstract

Canine non-infectious inflammatory meningoencephalomyelitis is termed meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin (MUO) and may affect dogs of every breed at any age. Treatment with immunosuppressive medication, the survival time based on MRI, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings has been widely reported; however, these studies only included a small number of patients, or they are summaries from the literature. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the clinical presentation, diagnostic findings, treatment protocol and long-term survival time in many dogs diagnosed with MUO in one clinic with previously published studies. One hundred eighty-two dogs met the inclusion criteria. Age, sex, duration of clinical signs before diagnosis, presence of neurological signs, MRI and CSF analysis were similar to those in previous reports. Our study revealed that dogs with a brainstem lesion have a 60% lower chance of death before 1 year than dogs with multifocal brain lesions. A total of 55.56% of treated dogs survived for more than 1 year, and 10.55% survived for more than 5 years since diagnosis. The median survival time for all dogs was 540 days. Our findings support glucocorticosteroid monotherapy as a viable treatment option for dogs with MUO.

Keywords: Meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin (MUO); central nervous system; dog; glucocorticosteroids; immunosuppression; survival.