#86: Demystifying inflammatory brain disease. With Dr Sam Long

The Vet Vault

Who loves neurology?! That little blob of skull-jelly and all the wires that come off it can be very confusing and very intimidating, even more so when we start talking about the encephalitis/meningitis complex of diseases that we encounter in our veterinary patients. To help us make sense of the different immune-mediated neurological diseases we’re joined by specialist veterinary neurologist Dr Sam Long. Dr Sam gives us a clear plan for getting to a diagnosis, including how to make sense of serology testing and how to use some new diagnostic tools available to us. He also shares his tips on a practical treatment plan, even if you don’t manage to confirm a diagnosis.

Dr Long underwent his residency and specialist training in Glasgow in the UK. Following his specialist training he undertook a PhD in canine brain cancer before moving to the United States to take up a position as head of the Section of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Veterinary Hospital. In 2008 Dr Long returned to Melbourne to establish the University of Melbourne Veterinary Hospital’s first-ever Neurology clinical service and specialist training programme. In 2017 he established Melbourne’s first private referral neurology service and in 2020 moved his service to the Veterinary Referral Hospital in Dandenong. His research interests are in the field of brain tumours, canine epilepsy, canine spinal cord trauma and canine degenerative myelopathy. He supervises resident and registrar training and has authored more than 30 papers and multiple book chapters on veterinary neurology.

This episode is supported by the SVS Pathology Network. Contact their veterinary pathologists to discuss a diagnostic plan for your neurology cases at:

QML/TML Vetnostics (QLD & Tas): 1300 838 765 [e-mail]

Vetnostics (NSW & ACT): 02 9006 7468 [e-mail]

ASAP Laboratory (VIC): 1300 838 522 [e-mail]

Vetpath (WA): 08 9317 0777 [e-mail]

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