ChesterGates neurology resident wins ECVN-ESVN symposium prize for cerebellar disease research
ChesterGates Veterinary Specialists resident in neurology, Luis Villalonga Rodriguez, has won the European College of Veterinary Neurology’s Boehringer Ingelheim – Best Poster Presentation by a Young Neurologist in Training.
The prize was awarded for his clinical presentation and MRI findings on cerebellar disease in dogs. His poster was presented at the recent ECVN-ESVN Symposium in Porto, Portugal.
The cerebellum is a crucial brain structure for information processing, with widely accepted importance in regulating motor function. Cerebellar somatotopic organisations and three well-recognised cerebellar syndromes – motor, cognitive-affective and vestibular – have been described in humans. However, it remains a particularly enigmatic region in dogs where localization is less well-understood, compared to other areas of the central nervous system.
Luis’ research aims to evaluate the clinical presentation and MRI findings in dogs with cerebellar disease, correlating clinical signs with lesion location. His poster presents the preliminary results of this research, where clinical data of 102 dogs with cerebellar neurolocalisation and cerebellar lesions that presented to four referral hospitals were reviewed.
Evaluation of this initial evidence found that:
- Ataxia or incoordination was the most common neurological sign in cerebellar disease. This is in line with human literature, where symptoms indicating abnormal gait or incoordination are also frequent in cerebellar disease.
- Less commonly recognized cerebellar signs such as head turn or pleurothotonus (deviation of the head or body towards one side), conscious proprioception deficits, paresis, abnormal mentation and behaviour or paroxysmal events (episodic incoordination or rigidity, or seizure-like episodes) were also reported.
- Vascular disease was the most prevalent in our patients, usually affecting the rostral cerebellar lobe.
Luis Villalonga Rodriguez said:
“I am thrilled to win this award. The poster presented at the ECVN-ESVN Symposium is a descriptive study of cerebellar lesions in dogs and represents the preliminary findings of our ongoing research. Our initial observations suggest that clinical signs, typically not associated with cerebellar disease, may in fact manifest in patients with cerebellar lesions. We hope to provide further insights into this subject over the coming months, once the full study is completed and published.”
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