Can Cytosine Arabinoside With Prednisolone Treatment for Canine Meningoencephalitis of Unknown Origin Increase Survival Time Compared to Prednisolone Treatment Alone

PICO question In treatment of canine patients with meningoencephalitis of unknown origin (MUO), is combination therapy of cytosine arabinoside (CA) with prednisolone more effective than prednisolone as a sole therapy at increasing survival time? Clinical bottom line Based on current available evidence, cytosine arabinoside with prednisolone has greater median survival time than prednisolone as a sole therapy in dogs with meningoencephalitis of unknown origin. The evidence to support this is very weak, as there are currently a low number of published papers with a relatively small number of cases reported in these studies evaluating cytosine arabinoside with prednisolone or prednisolone as a sole therapy for treatment of meningoencephalitis of unknown origin.