Electroencephalographic features of metabolic encephalopathy in dogs

The article describes electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings in dogs with diagnosed metabolic encephalopathy (ME) due to a porto-systemic shunt (PSS). A group of 24 dogs underwent an EEG examination according to a uniform recording protocol. Patients were divided into group A, comprising dogs diagnosed with hepatic PSS (n = 12), and control group B, composed of patients with an extracranial neurological disorder without cerebral involvement. All dogs included in the study underwent standard diagnostic procedures, which included a comprehensive metabolic panel and EEG examinations. All EEG recordings were subjected to visual and spectral analysis and were compared. The visual EEG examination revealed a high voltage, low-frequency background activity in both groups, more pronounced in group A. Random pathological activity of paroxysmal discharges (PD) was found only in group A, consisting of spikes and sharp-and-slow waves. Moreover, the presence of bilateral symmetric triphasic waves was noted only in group A. The EEG features in the dogs with ME were similar to known characteristics of the corresponding human EEG recordings.