The Role of Nonimaging-Based Diagnostic Studies for Intervertebral Disc Herniation

2015 ACVS Foundation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis remains an important tool to diagnose diseases mimicking intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH), especially in cases where imaging findings are equivocal. CSF analysis has the most utility in alerting the clinician to the presence of an inflammatory disease (e.g. granulomatous meningoencephalomy-elitis) in cases where imaging results are equivocal or nondiagnostic. Despite the rapid advances in neuroimaging over the last decade in veterinary medicine, CSF analysis remains a vital diagnostic test in animals with spinal cord disease. Although CSF analysis cannot be used to diagnose IVDH, understanding typical CSF patterns can be helpful when neuroimaging is equivocal or if another disease process is suspected. Electrophysiology will likely continue to play a minor role in the assessment of veterinary patients with SCI in the clinical setting. Like CSF, results are not etiology specific. However, electrophysiology can provide information concerning the functional status of the central nervous system.

The Role of Nonimaging-Based Diagnostic Studies for Intervertebral Disc Herniation Chapter