Osteochondrosis and osteochondral fragments in Standardbred trotters: Prevalence and relationships

Lykkjen, Sigrid; Røed, Knut; Dolvik, N. I.

doi:10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00434.x

Cited by 39 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The prevalence of osteochondrosis is higher in pigs 33,98 than in horses, 66,115 and many of the pigs in which the blood supply was experimentally transected had concurrent spontaneous lesions of ischemic chondronecrosis. 15 In addition, although experimental transection resulted in cartilage canal vessel and chondrocyte necrosis in all operated pigs, 15,130 a focal delay in endochondral ossification was observed only in the single pig examined at the maximum time of 29 days after vessel transection.…”

Section: Morphological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…88,133 The blood supply regressed from distal limb joints such as the fetlock 87 and hock 88 at an earlier age than a proximal limb joint such as the stifle, 86 which agreed with previous longitudinal radiographic studies demonstrating that defects develop before the age of 5 months in the fetlock 16 and hock 16,20 and 8 months in the stifle. 20 The prevalence of radiographically diagnosed osteochondrosis is high in large horse breeds such as the Dutch Warmblood 115 and Standardbred, 66 and low to negligible in small pony breeds such as the Norwegian Fjord Pony and the pony-sized Icelandic Horse. 9,106 The blood supply to the epiphyseal growth cartilage of the hock and hind fetlock joints was recently compared between the aforementioned purpose-bred Standardbred foals and a group of age-matched Fjord Pony foals.…”

Section: Morphological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An Update on the Pathogenesis of Osteochondrosis

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Osteochondrosis is defined as a focal disturbance in endochondral ossification. The cartilage superficial to an osteochondrosis lesion can fracture, giving rise to fragments in joints known as osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD). In pigs and horses, it has been confirmed that the disturbance in ossification is the result of failure of the blood supply to epiphyseal growth cartilage and associated ischemic chondronecrosis. The earliest lesion following vascular failure is an area of ischemic chondronecrosis at an intermediate depth of the growth cartilage (osteochondrosis latens) that is detectable ex vivo, indirectly using contrast-enhanced micro-and conventional computed tomography (CT) or directly using adiabatic T1r magnetic resonance imaging. More chronic lesions of ischemic chondronecrosis within the ossification front (osteochondrosis manifesta) are detectable by the same techniques and have also been followed longitudinally in pigs using plain CT. The results confirm that lesions sometimes undergo spontaneous resolution, and in combination, CT and histology observations indicate that this occurs by filling of radiolucent defects with bone from separate centers of endochondral ossification that form superficial to lesions and by phagocytosis and intramembranous ossification of granulation tissue that forms deep to lesions. Research is currently aimed at discovering the cause of the vascular failure in osteochondrosis, and studies of spontaneous lesions suggest that failure is associated with the process of incorporating blood vessels into the advancing ossification front during growth. Experimental studies also show that bacteremia can lead to vascular occlusion. Future challenges are to differentiate between causes of vascular failure and to discover the nature of the heritable predisposition for osteochondrosis.

show abstract

Section: Morphological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Morphological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Update on the Pathogenesis of Osteochondrosis

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The prevalence of these fragments has been reported to be 23.1% and 28.8% (Sandgren, 1988;Lykkjen et al, 2012). The fragments are typically located on the medial aspect of the left hind limb (Sandgren, 1988;Fortier et al, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Racing performance of Swedish Standardbred trotting horses with proximal palmar/plantar first phalangeal (Birkeland) fragments compared to fragment free controls

Carmalt

Borg

Näslund

et al. 2014

The Veterinary Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…,b; Lykkjen et al . ) and there are even indications that different manifestations of OC within the same joint (fragmentation versus flattening of the joint) may represent different traits (Van Grevenhof et al . ).…”

Section: Aetiological Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenesis of osteochondrosis dissecans: How does this translate to management of the clinical case?

Weeren

Olstad

2015

Equine Veterinary Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Osteochondrosis (OC) is the most prevalent developmental orthopaedic disease in the horse. It is a complex disorder because of the interplay of factors that influence the formation of lesions and the ensuing natural healing process, the end result of which determines clinical outcome. The early pathogenetic mechanism of OC has long remained elusive, but recent research has provided compelling evidence for vascular disturbances leading to areas of ischaemic necrosis in the subarticular growth cartilage as the primary event. The aetiological factors that influence the process of the development of lesions are many and comprise both genetic and environmental factors. The genetic background of OC (dissecans) is highly complex with quantitative trait loci associated with some form of OC found on not fewer than 22 of the 33 chromosomes of the horse, and different manifestations and locations of OC having probably different genetic backgrounds. The environmental factors can be divided into nutritional factors and factors influencing the biomechanical loading of joints. Feeding large quantities of easily digestible carbohydrates is a clear risk factor and also the availability of sufficient copper for mares in the last part of pregnancy is important. Factors influencing the biomechanical loading of joints include the exercise regimen of foals, paddock size and roughness of terrain, and conformation. Equine OC is rarely a life‐threatening disease and the prognosis of (surgical) treatment is good to very good. However, the impact on economics of the equine industry and on horse welfare is large. This impact can only be lessened by the judicious management of both horse breeding and horse husbandry. Some of the measures that would alleviate the burden of OC conflict with (commercial) pressures from the industry and a balance between human‐imposed breeding and performance goals and the interest of the animal itself should be sought.

show abstract

Osteochondrosis and osteochondral fragments in Standardbred trotters: Prevalence and relationships

Abstract: The prevalence results emphasise that DOD should be considered in Standardbred breeding regimens (e.g. by sire selection subsequent to progeny testing). Also, improved phenotypic definitions will help elucidate the true causal genes in following genomic studies.

Cited by 39 publications

References 27 publications

An Update on the Pathogenesis of Osteochondrosis

An Update on the Pathogenesis of Osteochondrosis

Racing performance of Swedish Standardbred trotting horses with proximal palmar/plantar first phalangeal (Birkeland) fragments compared to fragment free controls

Pathogenesis of osteochondrosis dissecans: How does this translate to management of the clinical case?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About