Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Stem cell treatment helped police German shepherds
By Gibson, Melissa A et al.·Published in The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne·2017·Pennsylvania Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Associates at Hickory Veterinary Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Semitendinosus myopathy and treatment with adipose-derived stem cells in working German shepherd police dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Eight working German Shepherd police dogs were diagnosed with semitendinosus myopathy, a condition causing lameness in the hind leg. They were treated with stem cells derived from fat tissue, which showed promising results. Within six months, the dogs had a significant reduction in muscle lesions and improved movement. Over a year later, all eight dogs returned to their active police duties, with many showing normal or improved gaits. This treatment appears to be effective in helping these dogs recover from their lameness.
People also search for: German Shepherd lameness treatment · stem cell therapy for dogs · police dog leg injury recovery
Abstract
Semitendinosus myopathy has been treated with numerous surgical and non-surgical therapies resulting in recurrence of lameness within 2 to 9 months. Eleven cases of semitendinosus myopathy diagnosed in 8 working police dogs that were treated with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells were retrospectively evaluated. At short-term follow-up < 6 mo, ultrasound and gait evaluations revealed a mean reduction in the overall intramuscular lesion size of 54.82% (SD +/- 18.02; range: 30.5% to 82.7%) and reduction in the Visual Assessment Score (VAS) of 1 to 3 points. At long-term follow-up > 1 y, in 8 cases the dogs had a normal gait and in 3 cases the dogs had an improved gait compared with initial examination, and all 8 dogs returned to active police work. Fisher's exact test resulted in= 0.000008 when comparing published historical reports and these 11 cases for resolution of lameness and return to active duty.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28246410/