Results from an explorative screening program for elbow dysplasia in some breeds of dogs in Italy

<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">This paper aimed to present the first results of an explorative screening program currently running in Italy and focussing<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">on the prevalence of a specific orthopaedic disorder, elbow dysplasia (ED), in some breeds of dogs commonly reared in<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">Italy. Data consisted of radiographic findings taken on 1370 dogs (758 females and 612 males) of 6 breeds (Bernese<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">Mountain dog, Cane Corso, German Shepherd , Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever and Rottweiler) screened at an age<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">of 20.6 &plusmn; 11.6 months. Radiographs were graded for both ED and hip dysplasia (HD) according to a four- (0 to 3) or a<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">five-grade (A to E) linear system, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was used for studying the relationships<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">between breed, sex, age of dogs at screening and HD diagnosis with the outcome of the diagnosis for ED. Prevalence of<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">ED (ED score &ge; 1) for the pool of breeds involved was 25%, and Labrador Retriever (17%) and Rottweiler (40%) showed,<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">respectively, the lowest and the highest prevalence of ED among breeds in the study. Prevalence of HD (grades C or high-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">er) approached 15%. When compared to other breeds, Rottweiler and Bernese Mountain dogs showed significantly high-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">er risk to be affected by ED (odds ratio 3.2 and 3.0, respectively). Conversely, sex did not significantly affect the onset<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">of ED. When compared to the youngest group of dogs at screening (average: 14 months), the oldest group of screened<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">dogs (average: 40 months) exhibited a significantly higher risk of being diagnosed as affected by ED (odds ratio: 1.9).<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">A negative status of hip joints appeared positively associated with a negative status of elbow joints, and dogs diagnosed<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">as affected by HD had a 40% increased risk of being diagnosed as affected by ED. In conclusion, results from this study<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">demonstrated that ED has a noticeable prevalence in some Italian dog populations, particularly in heavy breeds.<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">Screening of dogs for ED appeared feasible and should be performed at a standard age. Phenotypic association between<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">hip and elbow dysplasia observed in this study suggests that the genetic relationships between these skeletal disorders<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">should be investigated.<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>