Radiographic findings have an association with weight bearing and locomotion in English bulldogs

(2020) 62:19 Mölsä et al. Acta Vet Scand https://doi.org/10.1186/s13028-020-00517-3 Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica Open Access RESEARCH Radiographic findings have an association with weight bearing and locomotion in English bulldogs Sari Helena Mölsä1* , Heli Katariina Hyytiäinen1, Kaj Mikael Morelius1, Maria Katariina Palmu1, Tommi Sakari Pesonen2 and Anu Katriina Lappalainen1 Abstract Background: English bulldogs are known to be prone to skeletal problems, but knowledge is lacking of the effect of these problems on locomotion and function. This study was undertaken to report the conformational, orthopaedic and radiographic findings in a cohort of English bulldogs in Finland and to evaluate how these findings affect weight bearing and locomotion of the dogs. Twenty-eight English bulldogs were prospectively recruited to this cross-sectional study. An orthopaedic examination, measurements of conformation, static and dynamic weight bearing, and radiographic examinations of elbow, hip, stifle joints and spine were done. Results: The English bulldogs carried a mean of 67.3% and 62.1% of their body weight in front limbs while standing and trotting, respectively. Front and hind limb lameness was seen in 20.8% (5/24) and 12.5% (3/24) of dogs, respectively. At orthopaedic examination, abnormal palpation findings (i.e. pain response, crepitation, swelling or subjectively decreased range of motion) were observed in a median of one joint (range 0–5) in each dog. Medial patellar luxation was diagnosed in 33.0% (8/24) of the evaluated dogs. At radiographic examination, elbow dysplasia was diagnosed in 48.2% (27/56) of elbow joints and severe hip dysplasia in 55.4% (31/56) of hip joints. The grade of elbow dysplasia was negatively associated with the ratio of static weight bearing between the front and hind limbs (slope estimate − 1.46, 95% CI − 2.75 to − 0.16, P = 0.03) and in dynamic weight bearing the ratio of total pressure index between the front and hind limbs (slope estimate − 0.088, 95% CI − 0.164 to 0.025, P = 0.03). The severity of hip dysplasia or hip osteoarthritis was not associated with the amount of static or dynamic weight bearing, but all except one dog were diagnosed with Fédération Cynologique Internationale grade C, D or E hips (dysplastic). In the spine, 78.6% (22/28) of the dogs had at least one malformed vertebra. Conclusions: Orthopaedic diseases and abnormal radiographic findings were common in the English bulldogs studied. The static weight bearing of the dogs was heavily distributed to the front limbs. With increasing severity of elbow dysplasia, the static and dynamic weight bearing shifted from dysplastic elbows to hind limbs. Keywords: Brachycephaly, Conformation, Elbow dysplasia, Gait analysis, Hip dysplasia, Patellar luxation, Spinal malformation, Static weight bearing *Correspondence: 1 Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 57, Viikintie 49, 00014 Helsinki, Finland Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Background The English bulldog is a popular dog breed worldwide. During the past decade awareness of the health problems of this brachycephalic breed has grown. Like most pedigree breeds, English bulldogs are selected for appearance by breed standard, and this has resulted in severe © The Author(s) 2020. 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The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Mölsä et al. Acta Vet Scand (2020) 62:19 conformational abnormalities in these dogs [1]. Based on a review of pedigree dogs in the United Kingdom, the English bulldog ranks among the breeds with the highest prevalence of conformation-related disorders [1]. The most recognized health issues in English bulldogs have been related to foreshortening of the facial skeleton and brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS). Clinical signs include snoring, inspiratory stertor and stridor, exercise and heat intolerance, gastrointestinal problems and disturbed sleep patterns [2–4]. With increasing severity of BOAS grade, the exercise tolerance of these dogs decreases [4]. Many animals require surgical intervention for relief of their symptoms [2, 3]. However, brachycephalic syndrome is not the only problem suffered by this breed; musculoskeletal [1], dental [5], dermatological [6, 7] and ophthalmological [8] abnormalities have also emerged. Previous studies have reported an increased risk for hip dysplasia [9, 10], and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) has ranked the English bulldog as one of the breeds most prone to both hip and elbow dysplasia [11]. Patellar luxation [12, 13], congenital spinal malformations causing kyphosis and scoliosis, and spondylosis [14–17] have also been reported. In addition, the genetic background was recently revealed, with all English bulldogs found to carry a DVL2 gene mutation responsible for various skeletal malformations [18]. In orthopaedic research, it is currently common to evaluate dynamic musculoskeletal function of the dogs using kinetic or kinematic gait analysis [19–21]. Moreover, measurement of static weight bearing [22, 23] as well as measurement of range of motion in joints [24, 25] are often performed. Although several studies have reported various radiographic abnormalities in English bulldogs [1, 9, 10, 14–16], research evaluating the musculoskeletal function of the dogs and specifically the association of orthopaedic findings with dogs’ weight bearing and locomotion is scarce. Aristizabal Escobar et al. [12] assessed 30 English bulldogs with kinetic gait analysis and reported marked asymmetry in hind limb peak vertical force symmetry indices, although visual lameness was not detected. The authors suggested that the asymmetry was related to high prevalence of severe hip dysplasia in these dogs. The aim of this study was to report the conformational, orthopaedic and radiographic findings in a cohort of English bulldogs in Finland and to evaluate how the c (...truncated)