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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

German Shepherd with joint cartilage nodules that turned cancerous

By Díaz-Bertrana, C et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology : V.C.O.T·2010·Departamento de Medicina y Cirug&#xed, Spain·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Extra- and intra-articular synovial chondromatosis and malignant transformation to chondrosarcoma.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 5-year-old male German Shepherd was brought in with a condition called synovial chondromatosis, which caused thousands of small cartilage nodules in his stifle joint and surrounding muscles. The owner chose not to proceed with further surgery to remove all the nodules. Unfortunately, nine months later, the dog suffered a serious fracture in his leg, and tests revealed that the condition had turned into a type of cancer called chondrosarcoma. The dog underwent an amputation, but thankfully, there were no signs of cancer spreading after a year and a half of follow-up.

People also search for: German Shepherd cancer symptoms · dog leg fracture treatment · synovial chondromatosis in dogs

Abstract

Intra- and extra-articular primary synovial chondromatosis (SC) was observed in a five-year-old, entire male German Shepherd. Thousands of small cartilaginous nodules were removed from the stifle joint as well as from several adjacent muscles. Diagnosis of SC was established based on clinical, radiographic and biopsy results. The owner declined to have a new surgery performed for complete nodule removal and partial synovectomy. Nine months after the initial presentation, a proximal pathological intra- articular tibial fracture was observed and malignant transformation to chondrosarcoma was diagnosed after limb amputation. No metastasis was observed after 1.5 years of follow-up.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20585708/