The aim of ihis study has been to determine the breed and age distribution and location of lesions occurring in the vertebral column and spinal cord in dogs. To achieve this, radiographics belonging to a total of 266 dogs with vertebral column and spinal cord lesions were evaluated. Of these eases, intervertebral disc disease was observed in 95, spondylosis deformans in 83, fracture in 70. luxation in 10, subluxation in 7, discospondylitis in 3, spondylitis in 1 and firearm injury in 1 case (in 3 of these cases, intervertebral disc disease and spondylosis deformans was seen together and in 1 case fracture and luxation had occurred together). The mean age was 5.7 for cases with intervertebral disc disease and 8.5 for cases with spondylosis deformans. In this study, intervertebral disc disease was diagnosed in a total of 238 intervertebral spaces and their locations were distributed as: 1.7% in C2-C7, 9.7% in T1-T10, 42.4% in T10-L1, 16.8% in L1-L4 and 29.4% in L4-L7. Spondylosis deformans lesions were seen to occur at a rate of 31.2% in the thoracal vertebrae and 68.8% in the lumbar vertebrae, of the lesions in the thoracal region: 71 % were in T9-T13 and 29% were in the remaining thoracal vertebrae. In the lumbar region; 49.5% had occurred in L1-L4. 29% in L5-L7 and 21.5% in L7-S1. Fractures, luxations and subluxations were seen to occur frequently in the thoracolumbar region and near the lumbo-sacral region. In cases with discospondylitis, the lesion was seen to occur in the intervertebral spaces of L4-L5 in one case. T6-T7, T7-T8 and T8-T9 in another case and T11-T12, T12-T13,-L1 and L1-L2 in the remaining case.
Our opinion is that this study, in which breed and age distribution of dogs and frequent location of lesions occurring in the vertebral column and spinal cord have been determined, can shed light upon diagnosis of neurological diseases.