Epidemiological study of congenital malformations of the vertebral column in French bulldogs, English bulldogs and pugs

Lackmann, Felix; Forterre, Franck; Brunnberg, Leo; Loderstedt, Shenja (2022). Epidemiological study of congenital malformations of the vertebral column in French bulldogs, English bulldogs and pugs. Veterinary record, 190(1), e509. British Veterinary Association 10.1002/vetr.509

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Background: Congenital vertebral body malformations (CVBMs) have retrospectively been investigated in British and American canine populations. This study prospectively evaluates occurrence, localization, type and characteristic of CVBM along the entire vertebral column in a cohort of French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs and Pug dogs from Germany.

Methods: Prospective clinical and radiological screenings for CVBM were performed in brachycephalic dogs presented for reasons unrelated to neurological problems. Neurological and orthopaedic examinations as well as radiographs in two orthogonal planes of the entire vertebral column including the tail were performed in all dogs. Cobb angle and vertebral step were determined. Associations between CVBM, tail malformation, neurological deficits and occurrence of concurrent orthopaedic diseases were investigated.

Results: A total of 707 VBMs were identified in the whole vertebral column of 169 of 265 brachycephalic dogs. The most common types of CVBMs were ventral wedge shape (48%), dorsal wedge shape (14%) and shortened vertebral body (14%). A new type of malformation was investigated: dorsal wedge shape vertebrae. There was significant association between severe tail malformations with CVBM. Neurological deficits were significantly associated with ventrolateral wedge shape, dorso lateral hemivertebrae, Cobb angle > 30% and vertebral step ≥1.75 mm. Orthopaedic conditions were not significantly associated with CVBM.

Conclusion: Kyphotic Cobb angle and vertebral step are radiological findings associated with neurological deficits. We propose severe tail malformation as an easy and accurate selection factor for determining breeding dogs.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV)
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > Small Animal Clinic > Small Animal Clinic, Surgery
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > Small Animal Clinic

UniBE Contributor:

Forterre, Franck

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology)
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0042-4900

Publisher:

British Veterinary Association

Language:

English

Submitter:

Manuel Roland Schmidli

Date Deposited:

11 Feb 2022 15:30

Last Modified:

15 Dec 2022 08:31

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/vetr.509

PubMed ID:

34021609

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/164760

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/164760

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