Bacterial meningoencephalitis secondary to vaginitis in a canine: Case report

Abstract

The bacterial meningoencephalitis is a neurological disorder that affects dogs and cats, and develops on migration of bacteria from infectious focus, near or far from the central nervous system through the bloodstream, breaking the hemato-encephalic barrier and reaching the brain and meninges. in that context, this work has by objective report a case of meningoencephalitis concomitant with vaginitis in a canine, female, without race defined, 3 years old, attend at Dr. Vicente Borelli's Veterinary Hospital located in Aracaju-SE. The animal had motor incoordination, inclination of the head for the right side and walked in circles. Physical examination, blood count, renal profile, liver profile and protein fraction, cystocentesis guided by ultrasound, physical-chemical analysis, urine culture, CSF collection for cytology and bacterial culture and collection of vaginal secretion for bacterial culture and antibiogram were performed. Finally, exploratory laparotomy was performed to discard uterine stump on physical examination, bilateral horizontal nystagmus, cervical stiffness, lack of response to deep pain, absence of cranial tibial reflex, proprioceptive deficit in the right posterior limb, and blackened vulvar secretion were found. The hemogram showed mild normochromic normocytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and monocytopenia. Renal and hepatic profiles and protein fraction showed no changes. Urinalysis showed a cloudy appearance, alkaline pH, presence of red blood cells and leukocytes, in addition to crystals such as amorphous and triple phosphate. In urine culture, growth, isolation and identification of the microorganism Streptococcus spp. The results found in the cytological examination of the CSF were a small amount of eosinophilic, amorphous, finely granular protein material, density and little increased proteins. Ultrasonography and exploratory laparotomy did not show any noteworthy changes, but they did help to rule out differential diagnoses of vaginitis. As for the microbiological exams of CSF samples and vaginal secretion, both genera of gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus grew. Thus, the present report allowed us to conclude that vaginitis can trigger meningoencephalitis due to bacterial translocation through the bloodstream.