Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Measuring hip shape to better spot hip dysplasia in German Shepherds
By Mostafa, Ayman A et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·2023·Department of Small Animal Surgery and Radiology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Quantitative assessment of hip morphology to enhance the identification of hip dysplasia in German Shepherd Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 153 German Shepherd Dogs to improve how hip dysplasia is diagnosed. The researchers measured various angles and coverage of the hip joint to see how they related to the severity of dysplasia. They found that certain measurements, like the Norberg angle, could help better classify dogs as having normal or dysplastic hips. This information could be useful for breeders to avoid producing puppies with hip dysplasia by identifying dogs that should not be bred based on their hip joint measurements.
People also search for: German Shepherd hip dysplasia symptoms · dog hip joint measurements · how to evaluate hip dysplasia in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To develop quantitative measures that, when combined with the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) score, would potentially enhance the accuracy of the scoring process. ANIMALS: 153 client-owned purebred German Shepherd Dogs with normal and near normal (71 dogs) and dysplastic coxofemoral joint (82 dogs). PROCEDURES: Center edge (CE) angle, Norberg angle (NA), indexes of dorsal acetabular femoral head (AFH) coverage width and area, acetabular index angle, and inclination angle were determined. We also investigated the correlation between selected variables. Coxofemoral joints were classified into normal, near normal, and mildly, moderately, and severely dysplastic joints based on the morphometric criteria previously established by the conventional FCI scoring. Variables were compared among the 5 groups using ANOVA. Linear relationships were determined using Spearman correlation coefficients. RESULTS: All radiographic measurements differed significantly (P < .0001) among the 5 assigned groups (normal, near normal, mildly dysplastic, moderately dysplastic, and severely dysplastic hip joints). NA was the only measure that differed significantly (P ≤ .03) between the 5 assigned groups. Positive correlations were identified between Norberg and CE angles (rs = 0.93), between width and area indexes of dorsal AFH coverage (rs = 0.92), and between the measurement techniques utilized to assess lateral versus dorsal AFH coverage (rs ≥ 0.65). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Evaluation of lateral and dorsal AFH coverage may help to refine the scoring system used to select German Shepherd Dogs for breeding. German Shepherd Dogs with NA < 103°, CE angle < 20.8°, dorsal AFH coverage width index ≤ 49%, and/or dorsal AFH coverage area index ≤ 51% should be considered to have mild, moderate, or severe hip dysplasia and are therefore not good candidates for breeding. Borderline values between near normal and mildly dysplastic joints should be reevaluated.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36729899/