Pitfalls of the Neurological Evaluation

Although a complete neurological examination is often advised, a more target approach avoids getting lost in details (eg. decreased patellar reflex on a dog presented with epileptic seizures) and help interpretation of abnormal but also normal findings. The aim of the neurological examination is to establish the anatomic diagnosis. Ultimately, failure to consider lesion localisation within the nervous system, and what kind of disease processes may be there, is the most common cause of failure in the diagnosis of a neurological patients. It also makes the interpretation of any diagnostic test results, including when using MRI, a very challenging task for the clinician in face of negative findings or findings that do not match the clinical history.