A comparison of subjective and quantitative methods for detection of physitis in Thoroughbred foals.
OBJECTIVE
To compare subjective and quantitative methods of assessing physeal swelling of the distal third metacarpal (Mc3) and metatarsal (Mt3) bones of Thoroughbred foals.


METHODS
The fetlocks of 16 Thoroughbred foals were filmed on five occasions over a period of 5 months and the video images were transferred to computer and digitised. The rate of change of each of the medial and lateral contours of the distal Mc3 and Mt3 bones was determined by calculating values for the second derivative of the contour. The degree of physeal swelling at the same site was subjectively assessed and allocated a grade based on an ordinal scale of severity. The maximum value for the second derivative was compared with the grade of physeal swelling.


RESULTS
The second derivative values for sites with slight to distinct physeal swelling (Grade >/=1.5) were significantly higher (p=0.001) than the second derivative values for sites with no apparent physeal swelling (Grade 0).


CONCLUSIONS
This finding indicates that the value of the second derivative of the contour of a limb has potential as a diagnostic tool for quantitative detection of physitis.
Ineson
A C
AC
Massey Equine, Institute of Veterinary Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. alison_ineson@hotmail.com
Rogers
C W
CW
Firth
E C
EC
Gee
E K
EK