Acute pelvic limb paralysis induced by a lumbar fibrocartilaginous embolism in a sow.

A diagnosis of fibrocartilaginous embolism was made in a mature mixed-breed sow with a history of an acute onset of pelvic limb paralysis. Within a single section of lumbar spinal cord, there was severe focally-extensive infarction of the right ventral gray horn. Within affected white matter, there was dilatation of multiple myelin sheaths with concurrent axonal swelling. A smaller focus of infarction was present on the contralateral side. Arteries at the periphery of both lesions contained a blue-gray material with staining characteristics similar to that evidenced by the nucleus pulposus present within intervertebral discs. Grossly, no abnormalities were present within the vertebral column.