A model of chronic spinal cord compression in the cat

An experimental method of producing chronic compression of the cat spinal cord is described. A ligature placed around the lumbar spinal cord of 3-month-old kittens restricts the growth of the spinal cord to produce compression with a slow onset and an insidious progression. The methods of following the clinical progress of affected animals and of sampling the spinal cord after perfusion fixation are presented. The sampling method used allowed analysis of the three dimensional distribution of the pathological changes caused by the compression. These changes were not symmetrically distributed: the spinal cord caudal to the ligature became swollen and extensive partial demyelination occurred under the ligature and caudal to it, in the swollen region of the cord, whereas cranial to the ligature there was only minimal damage. It is concluded that the method produces a useful model of chronic compression of the spinal cord, which will be of value in studying partial demyelination.