Elbow Dysplasia Radiographs/Pictures - Page 2

Elbow x-rays are the most difficult to read and interpret and most vets are not able to do so reliably without extensive orthopedic radiology specialty training. It is necessary to use special light box filters to read them. The OFA has been criticized for being overly harsh (rejecting too many for any irregularity, when vets in West Germany grade as "fast or "noch"). The OFA of course rejects un-united aconeal process (as do the Vets in West Germany who evaluate SV dogs). But the OFA rejects any irregularity or patchiness on the surface of the elbow joint bones and classifys them DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease). The OFA is very harsh in interpfreting these elbow xrays for two good reasons. They have determined in research that any elbow irregularity however mild is highly heritable and much more so than hip dysplasia, even if mild. They have also determined that any uncleaness that shows up tends to worson over time marked by the emergence of continued and progressive arthritic changes over time. Thus elbow uncleaness appears to be a much more heritable and latently serious breeding problem than hip dysplasia. Personally, I agree 100% with the OFA on their position on elbow xrays. One thing to note is that in some GSDs, the anconeal process may not unite until 9 months or even a year or more, albeit rare. The best practice is to never breed any GSD that has unclean hips or unclean elbows, especially any uncleaness in the elbows. If a GSD has irreplacable hgentic qualities needed for the breed, then one can still use GSDs with slight laxity in the hips (SV "fast normal" or OFA "fair").

DeesWolf, thank you very much, as I have not seen this file on the O.F.A. website. It may well be relatively recent, or I just never looked long enough. Still, after looking at the examples, I know that it will still be very difficult for me to determine elbow quality and must leave that to the experts. Now, I'll raise all of you one. We know the S.V. now requires that elbows be examined just as are hips. And I understand (I could easily be wrong here, but this is what I read) the elbows are graded in a manner similar to hips, so one has the "a"1, "a"2, and "a"3 ratings now for elbows. Unlike O.F.A., where an elbow is either correct (Normal) or dysplastic the S.V. applies a grade. To where does this lead? I'll stop at that! Bob-O

The BVA suggests that approximately breeding normal elbowed dogs to normal still yields 31% with elbow dysplasia. This is a very high heritability. It is also sugested that due to the subclinical nature of elbow dysplasia in many cases, normal moving dogs with no limping, swelling or symptoms can still be unclean in their xrays and produce a high rate of elbow dysplasia. Thus the necessity to do elbow xrays on all GSDs one uses for bereeding and only using those with totally clean elbow xrays. I have always thought the actual incidence of unclean hips of most West German GSDs was about 1/3, with many subclinical and thus the problem deeply ingrained genetically. The OFA statistics show a much lower incidence of actual cases of unclean elbows of the total submitted, but I think that of those submitting elbow xrays to the OFA, most have already taken steps to reduce elbow dysplasia through OFA screening of their dogs and insist on using only studs with OFA clean elbows.

Well, here is my two cents. Just like with hips, the SV and the OFA are all over the place. I have had dog with Noch Zugelassen with the SV get and OFA good. I also had a dog with a-1 or a normal hips from the SV only get an OFA fair. Just recently, I had a dog which the OFA said had one normal elbow and one that was stage 1 mile, yet when the SV vets rated it, it was fast normal. In one case, I had two sets of x-rays made the same day and one sent to the OFA and one to the SV. Usually one does not use the same x-ray (because you do not get them back) or have it done the same day. Also, just like with hips (remember 1993 Sieger Jeck Noricum, one of the important dogs in the last 25 years--he had noch zugelassen hips) the same is true with elbows. VA4 Pakros Ulmental has noch zugelassen elbows. I wonder what Vegas, a potential Sieger, has...

Elbow dysplasia is a complicated thing. I had one male GSD who I OFA'd at 5 years, his hips passed with flying colors but elbows were shown to have DJD. In the xrays you could clearly see that one had wear, but, this dog was repeatedly let jump in and out of the back of a pickup from the time he was a puppy up until I got him. The vet said he would imagine that was why he had DJD. This boy never had any problems with his elbows either, clear up until we had to have him put down at 10 years. He was the most ball crazy dog I've ever seen and he was always playing with his front paws with a bowl, bowling ball or rock, pushing them around! He never had a problem. IN all likelihood, he had arthritus because of all the wear and tear on his elbows. Peggy

Preston, Gertrude, and Peggy-all excellent points. If one merely looks at the the O.F.A. statistics, then our GSD has a failure rate with elbows that is roughly the same as the hips. A dog has done most of his physical growth by one (1) year of age, so the skeleton tends to be what it will be later, unless there are minor deformities that can later cause problems because they are in critical load-bearing areas, such as the hip and very complex elbow joint. A void in the bone, cartilage, or tissue mass, or a malformed member in the joint construction is certainly genetic-there is no doubt about that. What does bother me about the O.F.A. protocol is that the presence of very small areas of change, such as one (1) or two (2) tiny arthritic nodes will cause the dog to be viewed as having degenerative joint disease (DJD) and the dog will fail and be graded as Level 1 DJD. What is the real cause of the minor arthritis? Is it 100% genetic, somewhat related to diet, or somewhat related to hard exercise? Or all of these? That is where I have issues with the very tough standard of the O.F.A.-i.e., an elbow joint is either perfect or it is not. And this is done at two (2) years of age. The elbow joint is quite complex when compared to the hip, and unlike the hip does not rely so much on the surrounding mass of muscles and ligaments to hold it together. Perhaps that is the reason for the tough approach. I just disagree with the O.F.A. when the joint is normal, yet shows a tiny bit of arthritis after the age of two (2) years. Bob-O

Actually, Keycat, the span of years between excellent and fair are much greater in the dogs I am thinking of, one of which was an American bred dog I owned a long time ago. There should not be that great of a difference between 2 and 4 years, or my 5 year hip guarantee on puppies is going to make me a very poor woman.