Bone density of elbow joints in Labrador retrievers and Golden retrievers: Comparison of healthy joints and joints with medial coronoid disease.
The aims of this study were: (1) to determine the inter-observer repeatability of particular regions of the canine elbow joints; (2) to assess the effect of age, bodyweight and breed on bone density in healthy young dogs; (3) to compare Hounsfield units (HU) and bone density (BD) measurements between normal elbow joints and diseased elbow joints; and (4) to determine the sensitivity and specificity for HU and BD measurements in specific regions in the canine elbow joint. Regions with the highest repeatability were located at the medial coronoid process (MCP) base and apex, and at the level of the humerus, on the sagittal and sagittal oblique planes of the elbow joint. Age and breed were significantly associated with several regions of interest; conversely, none of the measurements were associated with bodyweight. Increased HU and BD values in the MCP base and apex regions are likely to be related to medial coronoid disease. Labrador retrievers had higher HU and BD values than Golden retrievers and an increase in BD was found in older animals. Cut-offs determined with receiver operating characteristic plots of the MCP base and apex suggested fairly good sensitivity and specificity (base: area under the curve 0.85, sensitivity 75.0%, specificity 88.8%; apex: area under the curve 0.89, sensitivity 80.0%, specificity 92.5%).
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: aquilino.villamontechevalier@ugent.be.
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Villamonte-Chevalier
Department of Veterinary Medical Imaging and Small Animal Orthopaedics, Ghent University, Belgium.
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Dingemanse
Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ghent University, Belgium.
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Broeckx
Department of Veterinary Medical Imaging and Small Animal Orthopaedics, Ghent University, Belgium.
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Van Caelenberg
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Murcia, Spain.
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Agut
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
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Duchateau
Department of Veterinary Medical Imaging and Small Animal Orthopaedics, Ghent University, Belgium.
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van Bree
Department of Veterinary Medical Imaging and Small Animal Orthopaedics, Ghent University, Belgium.
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Gielen
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D015519:Bone Density; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005552:Forelimb / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007596:Joints / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*
Bone density; Canine; Computed tomography; Elbow joint