Tetraparesis due to vertebral physeal fracture in an adult dog with congenital hypothyroidism

A four-year-old male affenpinscher was referred for evaluation of hindlimb weakness that had progressed to tetraparesis over a period of four weeks. Neurological examination was suggestive of a cervical spinal cord lesion. Radiographic examination revealed diffuse skeletal immaturity with open physes and epiphyseal dysplasla in long bones and vertebrae, consistent with a diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism. Total and free serum T4 concentrations were very low, indicative of hypothyroidism. Survey radiographs of the cervical spine revealed a dorsally displaced Salter-Harris type I fracture of the cranial portion of the fourth cervical vertebra with the endplate present in the vertebral canal. Although signs of transverse myelopathy are uncommon In dogs with congenital hypothyroidism, they may be associated with either intervertebral disc protrusion or endplate displacement into the vertebral canal secondary to the epiphyseal abnormalities associated with congenital hypothyroidism.