Cervical vertebral malformation/malarticulation syndrome in large dogs.

To anticipate improvement of a chronically affected animal may be expecting too much because reserve or functional spinal cord tissue may be minimal. An accurate prognosis is sometimes impossible to formulate because the extent of spinal cord damage is not known. Treatment may result only in halting progression of the disease, and even with total relief of spinal cord compression, recovery may be minimal. Animals with minimal neurologic deficits treated early in the course of the disease with adequate decompression and stabilization are more likely to return to function. The goals of treatment for cervical spinal cord compression are decompression and stabilization of the affected area. Adequate stabilization may result in atrophy of the soft tissues and further decompression once stabilization is achieved (see Fig. 3). If stabilization is not provided, adequate decompression of the spinal cord and the nerve roots is essential.