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Dysplasia
Hips dyplasia
According to Lopez and Schachner (2015), "Canine hip dysplasia (CHD) is a polygenic and multifactorial developmental disorder characterized by coxofemoral (hip) joint laxity, degeneration, and osteoarthritis (OA)...By current consensus, joint changes consistent with CHD are influenced by genetic predisposition as well as environmental and biomechanical factors."
In a nutshell, coxofemoral (hip) joint laxity, degeneration, and osteoarthritis (OA) are the hallmarks of canine hip dysplasia (CHD), a polygenic and multifactorial developmental disorder. It is currently accepted that hereditary traits, environmental factors, and biomechanical factors all have an impact on joint changes that are consistent with CHD.
When using the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA), their hip grading scale consists of: excellent, good, fair, borderline (BL), mild, moderate, and severe.
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"Good: Slightly less than superior but a well-formed congruent hip joint is visualized. The ball fits well into the socket and good coverage is present.
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Fair: Minor irregularities; the hip joint is wider than a good hip. The ball slips slightly out of the socket. The socket may also appear slightly shallow.
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Borderline: Not clear. Usually more incongruency present than what occurs in a fair but there are no arthritic changes present that definitively diagnose the hip joint being dysplastic.
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Mild: Significant subluxation present where the ball is partially out of the socket causing an increased joint space. The socket is usually shallow only partially covering the ball.
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Moderate: The ball is barely seated into a shallow socket. There are secondary arthritic bone changes usually along the femoral neck and head (remodeling), acetabular rim changes (osteophytes or bone spurs) and various degrees of trabecular bone pattern changes
(sclerosis). -
Severe: Marked evidence that hip dysplasia exists. The ball is partly or completely out of a shallow socket. Significant arthritic bone changes along the femoral neck and head and acetabular rim changes" (HIP Dysplasia | OFA, 2022).
(Lopez & Schachner, 2015)
(Themes, 2016)
Elbow Dysplasia
Elbow Dysplasia is described as "a developmental defect, where abnormal cells appear in a particular type of tissue or organ" (Elbow Dysplasia, n.d.). Therefore, elbow dysplasia indicates that the elbow joint has developed abnormally.
As a result of this aberrant development, there are areas of abnormally high contact pressure because the humerus, radius, and ulna do not fit together perfectly. Consequently, this results in one of several issues (multiple issues may arise simultaneously in the same joint): Medial coronoid process fragmentation (FCP), osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), ununited anconeal process (UAP), and
Disease of the medial compartment (Davies Veterinary Specialists, 2019). The OFA utilizes three numbers for scoring elbows: 0, 1, 2, and 3. "Grade I Elbow Dysplasia: Minimal bone change along anconeal process of ulna (less than 2mm).
Grade II Elbow Dysplasia: Additional bone proliferation along anconeal process (2-5 mm) and subchondral bone changes (trochlear notch sclerosis).
Grade III Elbow Dysplasia: Well developed degenerative joint disease with bone proliferation along anconeal process being greater than 5 mm" (Elbow Dysplasia | OFA, 2022).
(Kunst et al., 2014)
(Villamonte et al., 2015)
Additional Information:
Does puppies’ bedding affect risk of hip dysplasia? https://functionalbreeding.org/does-puppies-bedding-affect-risk-of-hip-dysp/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJqGtZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHrTZxr0MyL1BhiC3GNZTGrE_Vl1Gxi-7PJfnwx0OZJNDxaVlLZu1g7DqfYvq_aem_eCG6hmzpSOLdpjpWejtD6w
Stem cell therapy for elbow dysplasia in dogs: https://www.veterinary-practice.com/article/stem-cell-therapy-for-elbow-dysplasia-in-dogs
Regenerative Medicine: https://www.pennvetcare.com/regenerative-medicine
THE INTERNATIONAL ELBOW WORKING GROUP: http://www.vet-iewg.org/