Bone resorption markers and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in dogs with avascular necrosis, degenerative joint disease, and trauma of the coxofemoral joint.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the ability of N-terminal telopeptide (NTx) assays and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to detect bone resorption in dogs with nonneoplastic bone lysis and evaluate the correlation between these diagnostic tools. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional clinical study. ANIMALS: Dogs (n = 35; 39 femoral heads) that had femoral head and neck ostectomy and 6 cadaver specimens from healthy immature small dogs. METHODS: Small dogs with avascular necrosis (n = 12), a reference group of small dogs (7), large dogs with degenerative joint disease (DJD; 10), and large dogs with trauma (10) were studied in addition to 6 femoral heads harvested from 6 small immature and healthy dogs euthanatized for reasons unrelated to this study. Densitometric measurements of femoral heads, urine NTx excretion, and serum NTx concentration were compared between groups. RESULTS: Avascular necrosis resulted in a decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) (0.18 &#xb1; 0.01 g/cm(2;) P < .01) of the femoral head and elevation of serum NTx (159.3 &#xb1; 59.4 nM; P = .03) compared to small dog controls (0.28 &#xb1; 0.02 g/cm(2) ; 18.7 &#xb1; 1.83 nM, respectively), but did not seem to affect urine NTx. DJD in large dogs did not seem to affect any of the densitometric parameters evaluated. BMD (P = .03) and serum NTx (P = .04) were lower in small compared to large dogs. Serum NTx and densitometric measurements correlate inversely with each other (P = .001) but neither test correlated with urine NTx (P = .8-.9). CONCLUSION: Serum NTx levels vary with dog size but seem to correlate better with BMD better than urine NTx excretion in dogs with nonneoplastic bone resorption.