Traumatic skull fractures in dogs and cats: A comparative analysis of neurological and computed tomographic features

Abstract

Background: Traumatic skull fractures (TSF) are relatively frequent in dogs and cats, but little information is available regarding their clinical and imaging features. Hypothesis/Objectives: To describe the neurological and computed tomographic (CT) features of a large cohort of dogs and cats with TSF. Animals: Ninety-one dogs and 95 cats with TSF identified on CT. Methods: Multicenter retrospective comparative study. Signalment, cause of trauma, fracture locations and characteristics, presence of neurological deficits, and 1-week survival were recorded. Fractures were classified according to the extent of fragmentation and displacement. Results: The cranial vault was affected more frequently in dogs (P =.003), whereas the face and base of the cranium more often was affected in cats (P