Abstract: Background – Little is known about prognostic factors associated with the long-term outcome of dogs with ischemic strokes. Although post-stroke epilepsy is a well-recognized syndrome in humans, it is unclear if this phenomenon also occurs in dogs.
Hypothesis/objective – Evaluate the occurrence of concurrent conditions, long-term outcome, stroke recurrence and development of epileptic seizures in dogs with ischemic strokes. We hypothesized that dogs with concurrent conditions or those which develop epileptic seizures long-term are more likely to have a poor outcome.
Methods – Retrospective multicentre study including dogs with ischemic stroke diagnosed with MRI. Clinical records between 2000-2021 were reviewed. Referring veterinarians and owners were contacted to obtain follow-up information. Associations between outcome, concurrent disease, and occurrence of post-stroke epileptic seizures were evaluated.
Results – A total of 124 dogs were included; 73 dogs (58.9%) had a concurrent condition. Median survival time for dogs with a concurrent condition was 851 days (range 1-3013) versus 696 days (range 3-3027) in dogs without concurrent conditions. Stroke recurrence was 18.5% (23/116) of which 73.9% (16/23) had a concurrent condition. A total of 8 dogs (6.5%) experienced post-stroke epileptic seizures, without having epileptic seizures as a primary complaint. No significant association was found between long-term outcome, presence of concurrent conditions, and occurrence of post-stroke epileptic seizures.
Conclusion and clinical importance – In dogs diagnosed with ischemic stroke, occurrence of post-stroke epileptic seizures or presence of a concurrent condition had no impact on long-term outcome. Post-stroke epileptic seizures are an uncommon occurrence in canine patients.
