COMPARISON OF 2 CLASSIFICATION PROTOCOLS IN THE EVALUATION OF ELBOW DYSPLASIA IN THE DOG

The incidence of elbow disease based solely on arthrosis (ARTH) score was compared with a protocol using a combination of ARTH score plus a score for primary lesions (ED score). The population of dogs studied i ncluded 425 Bernese mountain dogs and 22 dogs of other breeds. The ove rall agreement between the two systems was high. However, 12 per cent of ARTH-score negative cases were positive using the ED score. This di fference was statistically significant (P<0.005). The female:male rati o of the dogs missed using the ARTH score was 2:1. The proportion of d ogs affected with arthrosis increased with age, male dogs being affect ed more frequently. The development of arthrosis depends not only on a ge and breed, but probably also on gender, Thus, screening for elbow d ysplasia should be based on at least two radiographic projections, inc luding arthrosis and primary lesions. As the vast majority of dogs in this study were Bernese mountain dogs, conclusions are valid only for this breed.