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- Author or Editor: Robert D. Pechman x
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Summary
Complications associated with femoral capital physeal (cp) fractures in 34 dogs were evaluated. Fractures were surgically repaired, using divergent K-wires or lag screws; radiographic follow-up was available for 21 cp fractures. In all cases, radiographic abnormalities such as degenerative joint disease and resorption of the femoral neck and/or head were seen. Changes were more severe when fracture occurred at an early age. For 4 of 21 dogs (20%), femoral head and neck excision was performed because of complications associated with cp fracture repair. Prognosis for femoral cp fractures is guarded, although affected dogs should be able to function as pets.
Summary
The effects of intra-articular administration of methylprednisolone acetate (mpa) on the healing of full-thickness osteochondral defects and on normal cartilage were evaluated in 8 horses. In group-1 horses (n = 4), a 1-cm-diameter, full-thickness defect was created bilaterally in the articular cartilage on the dorsal distal surface of the radial carpal bone. Cartilage defects were not created in group-2 horses (n = 4). One middle carpal joint was randomly selected in each horse (groups 1 and 2), and treated with an intra-articular injection of 100 mg of mpa, once a week for 4 treatments. Injections began 1 week after surgery in group-1 horses. The contralateral middle carpal joint received intra-articular injections of an equivalent volume of 0.9% sodium chloride solution (scs), and served as a control. Horses were evaluated for 16 weeks, then were euthanatized, and the middle carpal joints were examined and photographed. Synovial and articular cartilage specimens were obtained for histologic and histochemical evaluation.
Gross morphometric evaluation of the healing defects in group-1 horses revealed that 48.6% of the defect in control joints and 0% of the defect in mpa-treated joints was resurfaced with a smooth, white tissue, histologically confirmed as fibrocartilage. This replacement tissue was a firmly attached fibrocartilage in control joints and a thin fibrous tissue in mpa-treated joints. The articular cartilage in joints treated with mpa had morphologic changes, including chondrocyte cluster formation, loss of palisading architecture, and cellular necrosis in both groups of horses. Histochemical (safranin-0) staining intensity was reduced significantly (P < 0.05) in all layers of articular cartilage in mpa-treated joints in groups 1 and 2. In the replacement tissue, intense safranin-0 staining was found only in the chondrocyte clusters deep in the tissue of control joints, confirming fibrocartilage repair. Intra-articular administration of mpa in this dosing regimen thus induced degenerative changes in normal articular cartilage and resulted in histomorphologic changes in the repair of full-thickness articular osteochondral defects in horses.
Abstract
Objective—To determine signalment, clinical features of the disease, and treatment in dogs with diskospondylitis.
Design—Case-control study.
Animals—513 dogs with diskospondylitis (cases) and 236,109 canine hospital accessions (controls) from 12 veterinary teaching hospitals.
Procedure—Information retrieved from the medical records of 123 dogs with diskospondylitis at the Louisiana State University veterinary teaching hospital between 1980 and 2001 included sex, age, breed, primary complaint, neurologic status, location of lesions, causative organism, treatment, and outcome. The signalment of 390 additional cases from 11 other veterinary teaching hospitals was accessed from the Veterinary Medical Database. Comparisons were made with controls from the same time periods.
Results—Male dogs were twice as likely as female dogs to be affected (odds ratio [OR], 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7 to 2.4). Dogs were significantly more likely to be affected as age increased. Purebred dogs, especially Great Danes, were more likely than mixed-breed dogs to be affected (OR, 7.3; CI, 4.3 to 12.6). For dogs from Louisiana State University, Staphylococcus spp, Brucella spp, Streptococcus spp, and Escherichia coli were isolated most often; multiple organisms were detected via microbial culture in 11 dogs. The mean duration of treatment was 53.7 weeks.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Male dogs, older dogs, and Great Danes appeared more likely to be affected with diskospondylitis than female dogs, dogs < 1 year of age, and mixed-breed dogs, respectively. Long-term administration of antimicrobial drugs for treatment of diskospondylitis may be expected. Identification of the causative organism and early treatment are recommended. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2005;227:268–275)
