ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1661131
Peritumoral MRI findings and brain herniations in epileptic dogs with prosencephalic brain tumours: a multicentre retrospective study
Provisionally accepted
Marco Tabbì1*
Domenico Fugazzotto1,2
Chiara Caterino3
Simone Minniti1,4Valeria Toneatti5Giuseppe Barillaro4
Simone Minato2
Claudia Giannetto1
Gerardo Fatone3
Francesco Macrì1- 1Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
- 2Ospedale Veterinario San Francesco, Paese, Italy
- 3Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
- 4Clinica Veterinaria San Giorgio (CVSG), Reggio Calabria, Italy
- 5Clinica Veterinaria San Francesco, Mestre, Italy
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Prosencephalic brain tumours (PBTs) are frequently associated with epileptic seizure in dogs, yet the incidence and characteristics of brain herniations (BHs) in this context remain poorly described. This multicentre retrospective study aimed to evaluate the incidence and distribution of BHs and other associated MRI findings in 80 dogs presenting with epileptic seizures secondary to PBTs. MRI studies were assessed for peritumoral edema, lateral ventricular compression, midline shift (MS), subfalcine herniation (SH), caudal transtentorial herniation (CTH), foramen magnum herniation (FMH), and displacement of the quadrigeminal lamina (DQL). Peritumoral edema and lateral ventricular compression were observed in 85% and 77.5% of cases, respectively. MS was observed in 87,5% of cases. SH and CTH were the most common BHs, present in over 75% and 31% of cases, respectively. DQL was observed in 57% of cases, including dogs with tumours anatomically distant from the midbrain. Although tumour volume did not significantly differ between groups, larger lesions were positively correlated with the presence of edema, lateral ventricular compression and laminar displacement. These findings demonstrate that MRI features reflecting mass effect—particularly peritumoral edema, MS, and specific types of BHs—are highly prevalent in dogs with seizure-associated PBTs and may contribute to epileptic seizures generation. The MRI features identified in this study may have prognostic value for potential epileptic seizures development, and should therefore be considered during the clinical evaluation of affected dogs.
Keywords: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, brain tumour, Brain herniation, Epilepsy, canine
Received: 07 Jul 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tabbì, Fugazzotto, Caterino, Minniti, Toneatti, Barillaro, Minato, Giannetto, Fatone and Macrì. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marco Tabbì, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
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