A Retrospective Survey Of Canine Hydrocephalus And A Study Of Improved Surgical Method

Hydrocephalus is one of the common neurological diseases in the clinic due to the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the cerebral fluid caused by the imbalance in the production and absorption of cerebrospinal fluid,which leads to the dilatation of a single or all ventricles.Surgery to introduce cerebrospinal fluid into other spaces is the mainstay of treatment to resolve hydrocephalus in dogs.The common surgical scheme in pets is ventriculoperitoneal drainage,but after surgery,there may be discounted drainage tubes,curling,shedding,obstruction or excessive drainage of the shunt system,pneumothorax and various abdominal complications due to excessive surgical access.The high incidence of postoperative complications has brought heavy psychological and economic burden to pet owners,and it is still a problem in the treatment of animals that have failed to shunt.In order to improve the cure rate of clinical hydrocephalus in pets and strengthen animal welfare,it is an urgent problem to explore feasible solutions for the clinical treatment of hydrocephalus in pets.Experiment 1: A retrospective investigation of canine hydrocephalus disease.A total of 262 cases were collected from MRI and CT scans at the Teaching Animal Hospital of Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan between December 2020 and February 2023.Among the 262 cases,the results of epidemiological examination showed that the incidence of males was higher than that of females in hydrocephalus disease,mainly concentrated in adult dogs aged 1-3 years,with congenital hydrocephalus and traumatic hydrocephalus dominating.Experiment 2: The effect of Foramen magnum decompression(FMD)combined with cranioplasty in the treatment of occipital deformities.The traditional clinical treatment for obstructive hydroventricular hydrops caused by occipital malformations is FMD.The purpose is to relieve occipital compression,restore normal circulation of cerebrospinal fluid,and improve spinal cord function.During the operation,open the foramen magnum as much as possible,choose whether to resect the dorsal lamina of the first cervical vertebrae according to the degree of prolapse of the cerebellum,keep the arachnoid intact and cut the dura mater at the same time,in order to prevent cerebrospinal fluid leakage,suture the dura mater after surgery.However,postoperative soft tissue hyperplasia can easily lead to re-compression of the cerebellum,resulting in central infection,meningeal irritation and other symptoms,and cannot completely improve cerebrospinal fluid circulation.In view of the defects in the traditional treatment plan,this trial modified FMD,changed the conventional dural suture to cranioplasty,installed a titanium mesh on the enlarged foramen magnum,and covered it with bone cement,the titanium mesh has a suitable physiological curvature to effectively avoid the secondary compression of the cerebellum caused by scar tissue,and at the same time achieve the purpose of protecting the cerebellum and stabilizing the atlantoaxial joint.Both groups of cases treated with modified FMD recovered well after surgery and their clinical symptoms improved significantly.Experiment 3: Artificial induction of canine hydrocephalus and exploring the effect of ventriculooccital drainage on the treatment of hydrocephalus.In this study,a total of 6healthy adult hybrid dogs were scanned by 1.5T magnetic resonance image(MRI),the radial values of the ventricular system of the dog’s head were measured,and the common scanning parameters and positioning methods of the head were summarized.A kaolininduced canine hydrocephalus animal model was used,and head computer tomography(CT)and MRI scans were performed 10 days,20 days and 30 days after induction to assess the degree of ventricular dilation.The successfully established canine hydrocephalus model was randomly divided into two groups,each group had 3 animals,the control group was subjected to ventriculoperitoneal drainage,and the experimental group was subjected to ventriculoperitoneal drainage,and the postoperative observation period was 60 days.By comparing the effects of ventriculoperitoneal drainage and ventriculoperitoneal drainage on hydrocephalus in dogs,it was concluded that the treatment of hydrocephalus in dogs was significantly smaller than that before during the observation period,and the effect of the two surgical pathways on the treatment of hydrocephalus in dogs was not significantly different during the observation period.Ventriculoperital-occipital drainage is comparable to conventional ventriculoperitoneal drainage with fewer complications during the observation cycle.Conclusion: Ventriculoperital-occipital drainage is a feasible solution for the treatment of hydrocephalus in dogs,which provides a new idea for the clinical treatment of hydrocephalus in pets.