RADIOGRAPHIC AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF THE CANINE INTERCONDYLAR FOSSA IN NORMAL STIFLES AND AFTER NOTCHPLASTY IN STABLE AND UNSTABLE STIFLES

The role of the intercondylar fossa in cranial cruciate ligament injur y has gained notable attention in humans and it's role is now being qu estioned in animals, Controversy exists regarding the accuracy of radi ographs and computed tomography (CT) in evaluating the intercondylar f ossa, This study compared radiographic and CT evaluation with gross ev aluation of the intercondylar fossa, Six greyhounds were evaluated bef ore notchplasty, immediately after notchplasty and 6 months after notc hplasty in stable and unstable stifles, A fossa width index was used f or comparison because it negates the effects of patient size and radio graphic magnification, The fossa width index is calculated by dividing the width of the intercondylar fossa by the total condylar width. The fossa width indices of dogs determined from radiographs and CT were n ot significantly different before notchplasty except for the cranial f ossa width indices which were more inconsistent and tended to underest imate the size when compared to gross measurements, At six months, bot h stable and unstable stifles had refilling of the notchplasty, but th e unstable stifles had significantly greater refilling resulting in no significant enlargement in intercondylar fossa size as compared to th e prenotchplasty size, Osteophytes that occurred within the intercondy lar fossa were less radiopaque and more easily visualized by computed tomography. Computed tomography provided several advantages, including clearer visualization of the intercondylar fossa, avoiding superimpos ition of the intercondylar fossa by caudal thigh muscles or tuber isch ii and the ability to analyze the cranial and caudal components of the intercondylar fossa separately.