Neurological Diagnostics
The basic neurologic exam is used to achieve an anatomic location of a nervous system lesion. The examination consists of an evaluation from head to tail, assessing behavior and gait. Lesions can occur anywhere in the nervous system, and clinical signs may vary depending on the location of the lesion.
Neurologic disorders must be diagnostically differentiable from musculoskeletal disorders. Neurologic disorders may also occur singly or from multiple lesions. Therefore, consideration of age, sex, breed, pedigree, and onset of symptoms may be significant in proper diagnosis.
However, neurological diseases may be congenital, traumatic, nutritional, or infectious (i.e., EHV-1 or EPM). Clinical testing, in addition to the basic neurologic exam, are used to achieve a diagnosis. Testing may consist of cervical radiographs or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Another example of clinical testing would be a myelography, which is an x-ray of the neck that has had contrast material added to highlight the spinal cord within the bony column of the vertebrae.