Compression of Central Nervous System

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  • Compression may arise within or outside the spinal cord.
  • Causes of compression include:
    • Abscess
      • Abscesses may be extradural, vertebral or intervertebral.
    • Fracture of vertebral bodies
      • Traumatic fracture
      • Pathological fracture, due to abscess, metabolic causes or neoplasia.
    • Neoplasia
    • Intervertebral disk disease
      • Prolapsed disks can cause acute or chronic compression.
    • Malformations
      • Wobbler horses
        • Caused by stenotic myelopathy.
        • The vertebral canal narrows due to malformation and malarticulation of the cervical vertebrae (usually C3-C4)
      • Cervical vertebral malformation-malarticulation in dogs has a similar pathogenesis to wobbler horses
      • Atlantoaxial subluxation of toy dogs.
        • A hypoplastic dens leads to subluxation.

Pathology

  • Lesions associated with focal compressive spinal cord injury are similar regardless of cause.

Gross

  • The spinal cord may be indented or flattened.

Histological

  • The myelin sheath may balloon in all funiculi.
  • Axonal swelling and loss is seen.
  • Macrophages appear within days and remove debris within myelin "digestion chambers".
  • Neuronal loss, gliosis, malacia and oedema may also be apparent.