Osteochondrosis is a family of orthopedic

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

s of the joint that occur in children, adolescents and rapidly growing animals, particularly pigs, horses, dogs, and broiler chickens. They are characterized by interruption of the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

supply of a bone, in particular to the

epiphysis The epiphysis () is the rounded end of a long bone, at its joint with adjacent bone(s). Between the epiphysis and diaphysis (the long midsection of the long bone) lies the metaphysis, including the epiphyseal plate (growth plate). At the jo ...

, followed by localized bony

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated diges ...

, and later, regrowth of the bone. This disorder is defined as a focal disturbance of

endochondral ossification Endochondral ossification is one of the two essential processes during fetal development of the mammalian skeletal system by which bone tissue is produced. Unlike intramembranous ossification, the other process by which bone tissue is produced ...

and is regarded as having a multifactorial cause, so no one thing accounts for all aspects of this disease. Osteochondrosis is a developmental disease. It usually occurs in an early stage of life. It has personified features as focal chondronecrosis and confinement of growth cartilage due to a failing of

. Fissures can develop from lesions over the top articular cartilage and form a cartilage flap and an osteochondral fragment. It is diagnosed as

osteochondritis dissecans Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD or OD) is a joint disorder primarily of the subchondral bone in which cracks form in the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone. OCD usually causes pain during and after sports. In later stages ...

In animals

In dogs osteochondrosis is seen in

elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

, and

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joi ...

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

s. Elbow osteochondrosis is also known as "

elbow dysplasia Elbow dysplasia is a condition involving multiple developmental abnormalities of the elbow-joint in the dog, specifically the growth of cartilage or the structures surrounding it. These abnormalities, known as 'primary lesions', give rise to os ...

". There are three types of elbow dysplasia: fragmented ''medial coronoid process'', ''ununited anconeal process'' and ''

Osteochondritis dissecans Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD or OD) is a joint disorder primarily of the subchondral bone in which cracks form in the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone. OCD usually causes pain during and after sports. In later stages ...

of the medial humeral condyle''. Breeds that have the predisposition to these are

Basset Hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Golden Retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

, and

Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat ...

. Other breeds can also be diagnosed with this condition but it is not common. One of the leading factors to some elbow osteochondrosis is that the radius and ulna are growing at different rates. In this situation, the stress to the joint surface is not even and can cause some form of osteochondrosis in the elbow when the puppy grows or make already existing elbow dysplasia even worse. Some of the breeds that are susceptible to that are for example

Dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: " badger dog"), also known as the wiener dog, badger dog, and sausage dog, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, and comes in a variety o ...

s, Corgis, Pugs,

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Beagles.

Signs and symptoms

These conditions nearly all present with an insidious onset of pain referred to the location of the bony damage. Some, notably Kienbock's disease of the wrist, may involve considerable swelling, and Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease of the hip causes the victim to limp. The spinal form,

Scheuermann's disease Scheuermann's disease is a self-limiting skeletal disorder of childhood. Scheuermann's disease describes a condition where the vertebrae grow unevenly with respect to the sagittal plane; that is, the posterior angle is often greater than the an ...

, may cause bending, or

kyphosis Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result ...

of the upper spine, giving a "hunch-back" appearance.

Symptoms in animals

The most common symptoms are lameness and pain in the affected joints. Animals may try to ease the pain and walk differently and the pain can be noticed by the change in animals walking style. The condition affects both sides (right and left leg). On most occasions, the other leg is worse. This can result that the dog starts encumbering the other leg and the healthier leg becomes more strained. Sometimes the symptoms are so mild or there are no symptoms which can make it hard to detect that there is something wrong with that dog.

Cause

The ultimate cause for these conditions is unknown, but the most commonly cited cause factors are rapid growth,

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...

, trauma (or overuse), anatomic conformation, and dietary imbalances; however, only anatomic conformation and heredity are well supported by scientific literature. The way that the disease is initiated has been debated. Although failure of

chondrocyte Chondrocytes (, from Greek χόνδρος, ''chondros'' = cartilage + κύτος, ''kytos'' = cell) are the only cells found in healthy cartilage. They produce and maintain the cartilaginous matrix, which consists mainly of collagen and prote ...

differentiation, formation of a fragile cartilage, failure of blood supply to the growth cartilage, and subchondral bone necrosis all have been proposed as the starting point in the pathogenesis, recent literature strongly supports failure of blood supply to growth

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck ...

as most likely. Osteochondrosis can be usually inherited.

Factors

There are four factors:

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar work ...

, environment, diet, and exercise. Environment is found to be a key factor in osteochondrosis occurring. The environment is related to diet and exercise. If the dog has good facilities to live a healthy life, meaning having a good diet and enough and the right kind of exercise, osteochondrosis may never occur even if there would be genetic susceptibility. Sometimes even if the environmental conditions are optimal there is still a chance that osteochondrosis will occur in the animal. Dogs are very susceptible to

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...

when they are growing up. Too much

in a diet can affect how the bone starts ossifying. That's one of the reasons why a correct diet for young growing dogs is important.

Diagnosis

Classification

In humans, these conditions may be classified into three groups: # Spinal:

(of the interspinal joints) which is a curve in the thoracic spine. # Articular: Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (or,

avascular necrosis Avascular necrosis (AVN), also called osteonecrosis or bone infarction, is death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply. Early on, there may be no symptoms. Gradually joint pain may develop which may limit the ability to move. ...

of the femoral head in the hip), Köhler's disease (of the tarsal navicular bone of the foot), Freiberg's infraction (of the second or third

metatarsal The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the me ...

of the foot and less frequently the first or fourth; sometimes called Freiberg's Infraction or Freiberg's disease),

Blount's disease Blount's disease (or Blount disease) is a growth disorder of the tibia (shin bone) which causes the lower leg to angle inward, resembling a bowleg. It is also known as "tibia vara". Description and risk factors Blount disease is a growth disorder ...

(tibia vara), Kienböck's disease (lunate), Panner's disease (of the capitulum of the

). Other entities affecting mostly adults, but sometimes loosely lumped into these conditions include Preiser's disease (scaphoid) and Mueller-Weiss syndrome (tarsal navicular). # Non-articular: This group includes Sever's disease (of the

calcaneus In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is the point of the hock. ...

, or heel), and other conditions not completely characteristic of the osteochondroses, such as Osgood-Schlatter's disease (of the tibial tubercle) and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson syndrome (proximal patellar tendon).

Treatment

There are many different kinds of treatments. One is to remove the loose piece of the leg. Or serving the branch of the lumbar muscle and

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

s attachment. Most of the time if the osteochondrosis is in the

shoulder joint The shoulder joint (or glenohumeral joint from Greek ''glene'', eyeball, + -''oid'', 'form of', + Latin ''humerus'', shoulder) is structurally classified as a synovial ball-and-socket joint and functionally as a diarthrosis and multiaxial joint ...

, the

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

diagnoses it from

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

s or CT scans. Some studies show that osteochondrosis is more popular in male dogs than in female dogs.

Prognosis

The term osteochondrosis has been used to describe a wide range of lesions among different species. There are different types of the prognosis: latens, which is a lesion restricted to epiphyseal cartilage, manifesta, a lesion paired with a delay in

, and dissecans which is a cleft formation in the articular cartilage. The prognosis for these conditions is very variable, and depends both on the anatomic site and on the time at which it is detected. In some cases of osteochondrosis, such as Sever's disease and Freiberg's infraction, the involved bone may heal in a relatively normal shape and leave the patient asymptomatic. On the contrary, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease frequently results in a deformed femoral head that leads to

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

and the need for

joint replacement Replacement arthroplasty (from Greek ''arthron'', joint, limb, articulate, + ''plassein'', to form, mould, forge, feign, make an image of), or joint replacement surgery, is a procedure of orthopedic surgery in which an arthritic or dysfunctional ...

References

External links

{{Osteochondropathy Chondropathies Deforming dorsopathies