Intracranial metastases of canine renal cell carcinoma: Computed tomography findings

A 5-year-old, female, neutered Dalmatian was presented to the neurology service for investigation into a 4-week history of worsening neurological deficits localising to the forebrain. Pre-referral abdominal ultrasound revealed a suspected mass arising from the left kidney. Computed tomography of the head, chest and abdomen revealed a large mass in the left kidney with multiple sites of regional and distant metastatic lesions, including brain metastases. Intracranial lesions appeared as multiple well-defined intra-axial nodules with mineral attenuation and perilesional vasogenic oedema, resulting in a moderate mass effect. Cytological analysis from fine-needle aspirates of the renal mass was consistent with renal cell carcinoma. To the authors' knowledge, intralesional calcifications or haemorrhages have not yet been described as a feature of intracranial metastatic carcinoma in veterinary patients.