Magnetic resonance imaging features of extradural hematomas associated with intervertebral disc herniation in a dog

Myelography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on a 4-year-old neutered female Rottweiler with bilateral pelvic limb paresis. On the myelogram, there was extradural spinal cord compression at the level of the T11-12 intervertebral disc. Inadvertent placement of epidural contrast medium also allowed identification of a 1-cm circular filling defect in the epidural space dorsal to the compressed spinal cord. MRI showed partial loss of the nucleus pulposus signal of the T11-12 disc, a focal signal void within the vertebral canal at T11 compatible with a free disc fragment, and extradural masses compressing the spinal cord at T10-11 and T11-12. Hemorrhage within the masses was confirmed on T2*-weighted images. A mixture of hematoma and mineralized disc material was found at surgery, and there was no histopathologic evidence of neoplasia. In this article, the appearance on MRI of hemorrhage associated with intervertebral disc herniation is discussed.