Arthritis of the canine stifle joint

Abstract

A survey of cadaver material was undertaken in order to determine the prevalence of arthritis of the canine stifle joint. One hundred and fifty unselected cadavers were obtained from veterinary practices for this purpose, and their stifle joints were radiographed and dissected to discover abnormalities. Thirty-one dogs (20 per cent) had stifle arthritis and in all except one the lesions were characteristic of osteoarthritis. In the exceptional case infection was the cause. A mechanical derangement was present in 20 of the 54 affected joints, in the form of rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (10), meniscal tears (9) and patellar dislocation (1). The cause of the arthritis in the other 33 joints is unknown.

Heberden Oration, 1976. Molecular approach to the understanding of osteoarthrosis.

“…This produces instability in the joint that leads to biochemical (McDevitt and Muir, 1976) and histological changes in the articular cartilage and to the development of osteophytes at the joint margins (McDevitt et al, 1977). These changes are indistinguishable from those of natural osteoarthritis in the dog, and moreover, whenever this ligament is ruptured accidentally, osteoarthrosis usually results (Tirgari and Vaughan, 1975). This experimental model of osteoarthrosis has several advantages, the time of onset is known, the joint is not exposed as only a stab incision is made, no foreign material is introduced into the joint and most important, the lesion appears in the same region of the tibial surface in every dog so that this area can be sampled before lesions have developed and the events leading up to the development of lesions followed.…”

A Review of Translational Animal Models for Knee Osteoarthritis

“…For example, if one wanted to study the natural history of knee osteoarthritis, a rat model would be inappropriate since this does not typically occur in wild-type rats [85]. In contrast, dogs or horses would be appropriate selections for this experimental design, as these animals share similar risk of knee osteoarthritis secondary to trauma, meniscal tears, osteochondrosis, and aging as their human counterparts [86, 87]. …”

“…Other canine models include meniscectomy or meniscal release [48, 57], creation of a focal defect [48, 58–60], or chemical induction [141, 142]. In addition, dogs develop spontaneous osteoarthritis [86]. Osteoarthritis is common for veterinarians to see, with an estimated 20% of dogs older than one year of age affected [143].…”

Indirect Injury Stimulates Scar Formation–Adaptation or Pathology?

“…For example, focal articular cartilage thinning and meniscal tears often accompany cartilage thickening and chondroosteophyte growth in knee joints [4,5]. The experimental model of canine osteoarthritis induced by surgical transection of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) produces morphological [2,6] and biochemical [7] changes that are remarkably similar to clinical knee OA in animals [1] and humans [2]. Full-thickness loss of articular cartilage defines the end-stage of this disease process, which typically occurs 3 to 5 years after cruciate transection surgery, although hypertrophic changes in the cartilage, bone, synovium, and capsule can be detected as early as 3 weeks after surgery [2,8,9].…”

“…Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of synovial joints that most obviously affects the articular cartilages and bones, although it also involves the synovium, ligaments, tendons, menisci, and capsular tissues [1][2][3][4]. Paradoxically, both tissue destruction and formation are regular features of this disease process.…”