Evaluation of the association between spondylosis deformans and clinical signs of intervertebral disk disease in dogs: 172 cases (1999-2000).
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between spondylosis deformans and clinical signs of intervertebral disk disease (IVDD) in dogs.


METHODS
Retrospective case series.


METHODS
210 dogs.


METHODS
Records of 172 dogs with clinical signs of IVDD and 38 dogs with other neurologic disorders were reviewed. Signalment, sites of spondylosis, severity of associated osteophytosis, type of disk herniation, and duration of signs were recorded.


RESULTS
Dogs with IVDD had significantly fewer sites of involvement and lower grades of spondylosis deformans, compared with those in the non-IVDD group. When groups were adjusted for age and weight via multivariate linear regression, there were no differences in severity of osteophytosis or number of affected sites. Dogs with type II disk disease had higher numbers of affected sites and more severe changes, compared with dogs with type I disk herniation. There was no difference between groups in the rate at which IVDD was diagnosed at sites of spondylosis, compared with the rate at which IVDD was diagnosed in unaffected disk spaces. Areas of spondylosis were closer to sites of IVDD that elicited clinical signs than to randomly chosen intervertebral spaces, and distances between sites of spondylosis and sites of IVDD had a bimodal appearance.


CONCLUSIONS
An association may exist between radiographically apparent spondylosis and type II disk disease; type I disk disease was not associated with spondylosis. Spondylosis in radiographs of dogs with suspected type I disk disease is not clinically important. Spatial associations among sites of spondylosis and sites of IVDD may be coincidental or associated with vertebral column biomechanics.
Levine
Gwendolyn J
GJ
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Levine
Jonathan M
JM
Walker
Michael A
MA
Pool
Roy R
RR
Fosgate
Geoffrey T
GT
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D001947:Breeding; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007403:Intervertebral Disc; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013128:Spinal Osteophytosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*