ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Imaging
Cerebral iron deposition in the Globus pallidus and Substantia nigra of aging dogs and cats presenting as bilateral hypointensity on T2w and iron-sensitive MRI sequences (SWI, T2*)
Provisionally accepted
Carolin Fischer1*
Sebastian Schaub1
Svenja Susanne Erika Körber2,3Monika Isabel Hoppe1Kathrin Büttner4
Martin Jürgen Schmidt5- 1Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Clinic for Small Animal Surgery, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- 2Department of Veterinary Pathology Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- 3Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office Rhein-Ruhr-Wupper (CVUA-RRW), Krefeld, Germany
- 4Department for Biomathematics and Data Processing, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- 5Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Clinic for Small Animals, Neurosurgery, Neuroradiology and Clinical Neurology Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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With aging, dysregulation of brain iron homeostasis can lead to cerebral iron accumulation, a process associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and recognized as an imaging marker in humans. Similarly, MRI-detected cerebral iron accumulation has been reported in aging beagles, suggesting parallels with human findings. This single-center, observational study retrospectively and prospectively evaluated 236 client-owned animals (198 dogs, 38 cats) undergoing brain MRI between 2014 and 2024. Patients represented various breeds and ages; scans were performed at different field strengths, 1-3 Tesla (T), with each animal examined once at a single field strength. MRIs were evaluated for bilateral hypointensities in T2-weighted (T2w) and iron-sensitive imaging (SWI, T2*) in the Globus pallidus and Substantia nigra. In selected cases, iron deposition was validated via post-mortem iron-sensitive Perl's staining of fixed brain tissues. Logistic regression analysis identified age as a significant predictor of improved visibility (OR = 1.21, p < 0.0001). Compared with 1T, 1.5T increased the odds of visibility by 2.78-fold (p=0.0366), and 3T by 4.82-fold (p< 0.001). Species-specific analysis showed that, in cats, field strength had no significant effect (p=0.1575), whereas age remained a significant predictor (p=0.0192). Iron-sensitive sequences (SWI, T2*) provided superior visibility of iron deposits compared to T2w, particularly in dogs. No significant difference in hypointensity detection was observed between the two brain regions. In summary, age and MRI field strength significantly affect the visibility of cerebral iron deposits in dogs, whereas feline results require further investigation due to the limited sample size. SWI and T2* enhance iron detection compared to T2w, particularly in canines.
Keywords: Accumulation, Brain, Iron, MRI, neurodegenerative
Received: 15 Sep 2025; Accepted: 27 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Fischer, Schaub, Körber, Hoppe, Büttner and Schmidt. 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: Carolin Fischer
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