[MRI in a dog with confirmed pseudorabies infection]

We describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination in a dog with confirmed suid herpesvirus 1 (SHV-1) infection and compare the findings to the results of the histopathologic examination. A 5-year-old female German Hunting Terrier used for hunting displayed severe pruritus and fever 7 days after contact with a wild boar. Two days after the onset of the first disease symptoms, the dog was presented with seizures and hyperthermia. MRI examination revealed hyperintense alterations in the occipital, temporal and parietal lobe areas. In the contrast sequences, contrast enhancement of the medulla oblongata as well as of the pachy- and leptomeninges within the occipital lobe and the cerebellum could be detected. The bitch was euthanized because of the acute deterioration of its condition. Histopathologically, multifocal mild to moderate mixed cellular vasculitis and satellitosis were found in the brain stem and pons, where SHV-1 antigen was detectable immunohistochemically in neurons and glial cells. In molecular-biological studies of the trigeminal ganglion and the medulla oblongata, SHV-1-specific DNA was detected. The MRI lesions of our patient displayed marked differences to the changes described in the literature for central European tick-borne meningoencephalomyelitis or the paralytic course of rabies. By contrast, it appears that similarities to the lesions described in canine distemper and the encephalitic form of rabies did exist.