Neurology Services Available

Dr. Ronaldo da Costa has joined the faculty in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences as assistant professor in Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery. Dr. da Costa comes to us from the Universidade Federal do Paraná in Brazil, where he was an associate professor in Small Animal Medicine and Neurology.

Dr. da Costa obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Universidade Federal do Paraná in 1995. He worked in private practice for a year and then went on to complete a Master of Science degree from the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria in Brazil where he studied the prevention of post-laminectomy membrane formation in dogs. He taught in Brazil for several years before moving to Canada in 2002. In 2004, Dr. da Costa completed his Residency in Neurology, and in 2006 he completed his PhD in Neurosciences, both at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in Canada. His thesis topic was "Cervical Spondylomyelopathy in Doberman Pinscher Dogs: Morphologic, Morphometric, Functional and Diagnostic Studies". Dr. da Costa has published extensively on this disease and plans to continue studying dogs with Wobbler syndrome here at Ohio State.

Dr. da Costa, board-certified in Neurology by the ACVIM, will be focused on re-establishing and developing the Comparative Neurology and Neurosurgery Program at the VTH.

The Ohio State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital is accepting neurology/neurosurgery referrals. Depending upon the nature and type of the case, these referrals will be scheduled and admitted through either Small Animal Internal Medicine (medical neurology cases), Small Animal Surgery (spinal and neurosurgery cases), and/or Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care (emergent/urgent neurology/neurosurgery cases). Dr. da Costa provides daily neurology/neurosurgery consultations each day of the week. Referral appointments can be scheduled through Stephanie Yochem, the Small Animal Clinic Referral Coordinator at (614) 292-0950. Dr. Aimee Kidder will be the principal small animal internal medicine faculty member receiving medical neurology cases. The small animal orthopedic surgery faculty including Dr. Jonathan Dyce, and Drs. Bianca Hettlich (from Texas A&M University) and Jennifer Au (from Michigan State) who will be joining our faculty in November, will be receiving and managing the neurosurgery cases. Our small animal emergency and critical care team, comprised of two faculty criticalists (Amy Butler and Ed Cooper) will be managing and overseeing urgent and emergent neurology cases. These cases will be stabilized and triaged to the appropriate service, or remain on the emergency and critical care service for primary case management.

This service is supported by comprehensive diagnostic imaging capabilities (digital radiography, computed tomography, 3 Tesla MRI, electrophysiological testing, ultrasonography); 24/7 small animal emergency and critical care service and ICU facility; and other specialty programs, including but not limited to oncology (medical and radiation) and hematology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology and pain management, cardiology and interventional medicine, and canine rehabilitation.

We welcome referrals for a variety of diverse neurological and neurosurgical conditions or cases suspected of having neurologic disorders. Examples of conditions commonly seen at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital include:

• Epilepsy (seizures)
• Intervertebral disk herniation
• Vestibular disease
• Brain and spinal cord tumors
• Encephalitis/meningitis
• Cervical spondylomyelopathy (wobbler syndrome)
• Cauda equina syndrome
• Neurodegenerative and congenital neurological disorders of the brain and spine
• Neuromuscular disorders
• Brain and spinal cord traumatic injuries

We also have a comprehensive full-service Canine Rehabilitation Service, which benefits patients with neurologic/neurosurgical diseases. For more information on this program, please visit our website or call 614-292-3551.

Please call our referral line at 614-292-0950 and/or visit the referral website for more information on our small animal neurology and neurosurgery services.

By: Kristine McComis