Hip and Elbow Dysplasia
What is hip dysplasia?
Hip dysplasia is a condition where the hip joint does not develop correctly. As the dog gets older, the joint undergoes wear and tear and the joint deteriorates, leading to a loss of function. This can cause varying degrees of pain, discomfort, stiffness and lameness.
How is hip dysplasia inherited?
Hip dysplasia is a complex inherited disorder, which is influenced by a number of different genes and by several environmental factors (e.g. diet, exercise or factors when in the womb before birth etc.). Each of the genes that help to make a dog’s hips may have different possible versions. Some versions increase the risk of hip dysplasia, while others decrease the risk. Each dog will have a mix of these “good” and “bad” versions of genes, making it very difficult to predict to what extent a dog will be affected. The impact one version of a gene has might only be slight, but lots of genes having a small influence will have a combined additive effect. The way in which these conditions are inherited is not straight forward; hence the name complex inherited disorders. These complex diseases are usually seen across many different breeds and are also described in both cross breeds and mixed breeds.
Each hip joint is assessed by AVA/ANKC scorers who assign points based on nine aspects of each hip joint. The degree to which a dog is affected by hip dysplasia is represented by a score given to each hip. This score ranges from zero to 106 (zero to 53 for each hip), with a score of zero representing the least degree of hip dysplasia and 53 representing the most.
For more detailed information see http://www.online-vets.com/hipscore_1.html
Hip dysplasia is a condition where the hip joint does not develop correctly. As the dog gets older, the joint undergoes wear and tear and the joint deteriorates, leading to a loss of function. This can cause varying degrees of pain, discomfort, stiffness and lameness.
How is hip dysplasia inherited?
Hip dysplasia is a complex inherited disorder, which is influenced by a number of different genes and by several environmental factors (e.g. diet, exercise or factors when in the womb before birth etc.). Each of the genes that help to make a dog’s hips may have different possible versions. Some versions increase the risk of hip dysplasia, while others decrease the risk. Each dog will have a mix of these “good” and “bad” versions of genes, making it very difficult to predict to what extent a dog will be affected. The impact one version of a gene has might only be slight, but lots of genes having a small influence will have a combined additive effect. The way in which these conditions are inherited is not straight forward; hence the name complex inherited disorders. These complex diseases are usually seen across many different breeds and are also described in both cross breeds and mixed breeds.
Each hip joint is assessed by AVA/ANKC scorers who assign points based on nine aspects of each hip joint. The degree to which a dog is affected by hip dysplasia is represented by a score given to each hip. This score ranges from zero to 106 (zero to 53 for each hip), with a score of zero representing the least degree of hip dysplasia and 53 representing the most.
For more detailed information see http://www.online-vets.com/hipscore_1.html
What is elbow dysplasia?
Elbow dysplasia is a condition where the elbow joint does not develop correctly. As the dog matures, the joint undergoes wear and tear and the joint deteriorates, leading to a loss of function. This can cause varying degrees of pain, discomfort, stiffness and lameness.
How is elbow dysplasia inherited?
Elbow dysplasia is a complex inherited disorder, which is controlled by a number of different genes and influenced by several environmental factors (e.g. diet, exercise or factors when in the womb before birth, etc.). Each of the genes that help to make a dog’s elbows may have different possible versions, or variants. Some versions increase the risk of elbow dysplasia, while others decrease the risk. Each dog will have a mix of these “good” and “bad” versions of genes, making it very difficult to predict whether a dog will be affected. The impact one version of a gene has might only be slight, but lots of genes having a small influence have a combined additive effect. The way in which these conditions are inherited is not straight forward; hence the name complex inherited disorders.
Each elbow joint X-ray is assessed by AVA/ANKC scorers and the degree of elbow dysplasia present is indicated by a scale of 0 to 3 (0 being the best and 3 being the most severe). Only the highest grade of the two elbows is taken as the elbow grade for that dog.
UAP
The other part of scoring elbows is specific to Unuited Anconeal Process or UAP.
The elbow joint is made up of 3 separate bones, the radius, the ulna, and the humerus. A condition called elbow dysplasia is a developmental abnormality that occurs in the elbow joint of dogs, mostly of the medium to large breeds. There are 3 developmental problems that may be called elbow dysplasia, namely a fragmented coronoid process (FCP), an ununited anconeal process (UAP), and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). See the separate handouts on "Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) in Dogs" and "Fragmented Coronoid Process (FCP) in Dogs" that describe these other conditions.
Dogs with elbow dysplasia typically have only one of the three conditions, and it is rare for a single dog to have all three components of elbow dysplasia.
The anconeal process is a small projection of bone on the ulna, the longer of the two bones of the forearm. The anconeal process forms part of the back surface of the elbow joint. There is a growth plate between the anconeal process and the rest of the ulna. Growth plates are found at the ends of the bones in growing animals, and are the sites of bone growth during development. Normally, as the dog reaches puberty, the growth plates close, fusing the parts of the bone together. The growth plate between the anconeal process and the ulna normally fuses by about 5 months of age. If the anconeal process does not fuse to the rest of the ulna correctly, it causes a condition called ununited anconeal process (UAP).
Elbow dysplasia is a condition where the elbow joint does not develop correctly. As the dog matures, the joint undergoes wear and tear and the joint deteriorates, leading to a loss of function. This can cause varying degrees of pain, discomfort, stiffness and lameness.
How is elbow dysplasia inherited?
Elbow dysplasia is a complex inherited disorder, which is controlled by a number of different genes and influenced by several environmental factors (e.g. diet, exercise or factors when in the womb before birth, etc.). Each of the genes that help to make a dog’s elbows may have different possible versions, or variants. Some versions increase the risk of elbow dysplasia, while others decrease the risk. Each dog will have a mix of these “good” and “bad” versions of genes, making it very difficult to predict whether a dog will be affected. The impact one version of a gene has might only be slight, but lots of genes having a small influence have a combined additive effect. The way in which these conditions are inherited is not straight forward; hence the name complex inherited disorders.
Each elbow joint X-ray is assessed by AVA/ANKC scorers and the degree of elbow dysplasia present is indicated by a scale of 0 to 3 (0 being the best and 3 being the most severe). Only the highest grade of the two elbows is taken as the elbow grade for that dog.
UAP
The other part of scoring elbows is specific to Unuited Anconeal Process or UAP.
The elbow joint is made up of 3 separate bones, the radius, the ulna, and the humerus. A condition called elbow dysplasia is a developmental abnormality that occurs in the elbow joint of dogs, mostly of the medium to large breeds. There are 3 developmental problems that may be called elbow dysplasia, namely a fragmented coronoid process (FCP), an ununited anconeal process (UAP), and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). See the separate handouts on "Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) in Dogs" and "Fragmented Coronoid Process (FCP) in Dogs" that describe these other conditions.
Dogs with elbow dysplasia typically have only one of the three conditions, and it is rare for a single dog to have all three components of elbow dysplasia.
The anconeal process is a small projection of bone on the ulna, the longer of the two bones of the forearm. The anconeal process forms part of the back surface of the elbow joint. There is a growth plate between the anconeal process and the rest of the ulna. Growth plates are found at the ends of the bones in growing animals, and are the sites of bone growth during development. Normally, as the dog reaches puberty, the growth plates close, fusing the parts of the bone together. The growth plate between the anconeal process and the ulna normally fuses by about 5 months of age. If the anconeal process does not fuse to the rest of the ulna correctly, it causes a condition called ununited anconeal process (UAP).
