Computed tomography findings in a cohort of 169 dogs with elbow dysplasia

Background: Canine elbow dysplasia (CED) is a complex developmental skeletal disorder associated with a number of pathological conditions within the cubital joint in dogs. Complex primary conditions associated with CED included medial coronoid disease without fragmented medial coronoid process, medial coronoid disease with fragmented medial coronoid process, osteochondrosis and/or osteochondrosis dissecans, ununited anconeal process, and joint incongruency and may be identified separately as a singular cause of elbow dysplasia, or occur as a combination of lesions presented simultaneously. The objective of this study was to assess the percentage prevalence of different components of CED in dogs suffering from this condition with the use of CT imaging. In addition, the correlations between various CED lesions and demographic features of the tested dogs were investigated. Results: 169 dogs of various breeds met the inclusion criteria. Statistically significant differences were found between the age of affected dogs in individual weight groups. Moreover, the significant correlation between weight and age in the cohort of large-size dogs with CED was noted. In 96 dogs OA of varying severity was found. 11.6% of dogs were diagnosed with unilateral CED and 88.4% suffered from bilateral CED. The majority of dogs diagnosed with CED were young with an average age of 2.26 ± 0.18 years old. Significant differences in the occurrence of CED components in different-size groups were also noted. Males represented the majority in this study population. Conclusion: CT-imaging allowed for the assessment of the prevalence of CED components in affected dogs of different breeds. The use of CT imaging as a screening test in puppies of the breeds of which CED is the most prevalent facilitates the selection of dogs with joint incompatibility, which increases the risk of MDC, at time when no other changes are present. An early diagnosis of the mentioned pathology may allow for the introduction of less invasive therapeutic strategies, ensuring the improvement of joint biomechanics. The correlation between different components of CED and demographic features found in our study may provide valuable prognostic criteria and help in the future identification of various risk factors or therapeutic strategies.