Middle ear abnormalities are frequently observed in brachycephalic dogs due to their anatomical variation, and the prevalence of these abnormalities may be influenced by modern breed popularity. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that 10% of dogs with signs of neurologic disease will have incidental otitis media (OM) and that brachycephalic breeds will have a higher occurrence of OM....
No actionable change for audiologists; this is a veterinary study with no direct human audiology clinical implications.
While outside the scope of human audiology, this large veterinary MRI dataset provides comparative medicine insights into otitis-driven vestibular dysfunction that could inform translational research on vestibular disorders.
- 01380 client-owned dogs undergoing brain MRI were assessed for incidental and causative otitis.
- 02Otitis was found both as a coincidental finding and as the direct cause of vestibular signs.
- 03Brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds showed elevated rates of ear disease.
- 04MRI was used to differentiate central (brain) from peripheral (ear) vestibular disease.
- 05Study is purely veterinary with no direct human clinical application.
Brachycephalic dog breeds have elevated rates of otitis detected on brain MRI.
studysupportedOtitis can be both incidental and causative in dogs presenting with vestibular signs on MRI.
studysupported- PMID
- 42485624
- DOI
- 10.1093/jvimsj/aalag139.
- Journal
- Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Science)
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Sample size
- 380
- Population
- 380 client-owned dogs undergoing brain MRI for vestibular and non-vestibular disease signs
- Intervention
- Brain MRI evaluation for otitis prevalence
- Comparator
- Dogs with non-vestibular disease signs
Primary outcomes
Prevalence of incidental otitis on MRI; Prevalence of causative otitis on MRI