Bone Opacity Research Articles

Osteopetrosis-Like Disease in a Cat with Respiratory Distress

Magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) were performed in an 8-year-old, spayed female cat with chronic effort respiration at the inspiration phase and stertor. Increased bone opacity in the areas of the head, neck and thorax were observed on radiography. MR images showed no signal intensity on both transverse T1WI and T2WI of the nasal cavity. CT revealed increased bone density and hypertrophy of the nasal turbinate and a narrowed nasal passage. From these results, we concluded this case had osteopetrosis-like disease, and that the respiratory distress was caused by hypertrophy of the nasal turbinate.

X‐linked spondylo‐epiphyseal dysplasia tarda in the Danish‐Swedish farm hound

In two litters from the same parents, three out of four males had an abnormally short leg and body length. Affected dogs showed signs of pain when moving, which could be eliminated by analgesia. On radiography, these animals had widened, radiolucent, irregularly bordered intervertebral disc spaces. When examined at seven months of age, the epiphyses appeared widened and irregular in shape and outline. General bone opacity in the vertebral column was lower in the affected male dogs than in the normal littermate. The affected dogs developed spondylosis and arthrosis of the larger limb joints. All affected dogs were euthanased on humane grounds, the eldest at the age of two years nine months. Based on the clinical and radiographic evidence, the condition seen in the male dogs described here resembles X-linked spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia tarda caused by a collagenopathy due to malformation of COL2A1 as seen in human beings.

Computed tomographic characteristics of multilobular tumor of bone involving the cranium in 7 dogs and zygomatic arch in 2 dogs.

Computed tomography (CT) images of nine dogs with a multilobular tumor of bone of the head were reviewed. The CT characteristics of the neoplasms involving the calvarium (n = 7) were rounded, well defined with a fine granular, nonhomogeneous bone opacity usually in the occipital region. Cranial vault invasion (5 of 7) was commonly found with a significant portion of the mass within the vault. The neoplasms involving the zygomatic arch (n = 2) were also generally rounded and well defined but with a more coarse granular appearance. The common CT findings were best seen when the images were viewed in a bone window.

Qualitative and Quantitative Scintigraphic Imaging to Predict Fracture Healing

SummaryPurpose: Evaluate the value of 24- hour postoperative quantitative bone scintigraphy to identify devascularized fragments and predict delayed fracture bridging in canine clinical patients; to determine the effect of fracture type, fixation type, age, sex, and weight on fracture bridging and the quantitative scintigraphic ratios; and to evaluate the relationship between qualitative scintigraphic assessment and quantitative scintigraphic ratios. Methods: Forty-two adult dogs, with diaphyseal long bone fractures treated with minimally invasive biological or invasive surgical techniques, were evaluated with 24-hour postoperative bone scintigraphy and six and 12 week postoperative radiographs. Fractured bones were classified as simple, moderately multiple, or severely multiple. Bone scintigrams were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Radiographs were made at six and 12 weeks after the operation and graded as fracture gap(s) bridged or not bridged with bone opacity material. The data was evaluated statistically to determine the relationship between age, sex, and weight of the dogs, fracture type, fixation type, and results of scintigram analysis to fracture bridging at six and 12 weeks. Results: Fourteen of the 42 fractures were bridged at six weeks after the operation and 33 at 12 weeks. Prediction of fracture healing was not possible. There was not any statistical relationship of fracture type, fixation, sex, nor weight to bridged fractures or non-bridged fractures at six and 12 weeks. There was a trend toward more of the fractures with multiple fragments treated with minimally invasive biological techniques to be bridged by 12 weeks when compared to similar fractures treated with invasive techniques. The mean age of dogs with bridged fractures at six and 12 weeks was significantly lower than the mean age of dogs with non-bridged fractures at six and 12 weeks. Qualitative scintigraphic assessment scores were not significantly related to the quantitative scintigraphic ratios or to fracture bridging. Conclusions: Neither qualitative nor quantitative assessment of bone scintigrams 24 hours after the operation could be used to predict fracture bridging at six or 12 weeks postoperatively.The value of 24-hour postoperative qualitative and quantitative bone scintigraphy to predict fracture bridging by 12 weeks in canine clinical patients with diaphyseal long bone fractures was evaluated. Neither qualitative nor quantitative assessment of bone scintigrams 24 hours after the operation could be used to predict fracture bridging by 12 weeks.Supported in part by a grant from the AO Vet Centre, Zurich, Switzerland.

RADIOGRAPHIC AND PATHOLOGIC FEATURES OF OSTEOPETROSIS IN TWO PERUVIAN PASO FOALS

The radiographic and pathologic findings of two Peruvian Paso foals with osteopetrosis are described. Both foals, one male and one female, presented with respiratory difficulty, brachygnathia and failure to rise after birth. Both foals were mildly anemic, hypogammaglobulinemic and had elevations in serum alkaline phosphatase. Increased medullary bone opacity was noted on radiographs of the extremities, spine and skull in both foals. A lack of normal cortical:medullary bone distinction was evident radiographically. The medullary primary spongiosa appeared to run in parallel columns away from the physes of all long bones and the vertebrae. This created a distinctive hour glass appearance to the osteopetrotic bones. One foal developed a bacterial pneumonia. Both foals were euthanized due to failure to thrive. Histopathology and electron microscopy documented these foals to have normal osteoclastic numbers but lack normal ruffled borders, lack of a clear zone and normal lysosomal numbers indicative of cellular dysfunction. These clinical, radiographic and pathologic findings are similar to the juvenile, lethal autosomal recessive form of osteopetrosis described in humans. Osteopetrosis has not been previously described in a female foal.

The Effects of Application of Vitamin d to dEntin in Dogs

The investigations upon which this paper is based were prompted by a report by Weinmann (1) that the application of vitamin D to cavities prepared in the teeth of dogs produced secondary dentin. The relation of vitamin D to dental health has been the subject of lively controversy. The literature was recently reviewed by Mellanby and King (2), who believe that the problem of dental caries and peridental disease is fundamentally a problem of nutrition and that the tooth structure, as conditioned by nutrition, is of primary importance in immunity or susceptibility to caries. Fish (3), on the other hand, reported that high supplements of vitamin D and calcium carbonate fed to dogs did not increase the calcium content of the dentin, although there was increased opacity of bones to x-rays, indicating that the treatment did increase the calcium content of those tissues able to receive it. Dentin appears, then, to be devoid of a mechanism by which calcium may be deposited or withdrawn. Fish further called attention to the fact that:

The Opacity of Bones to Roentgen Rays as an Indication of Age

The Opacity of Bones to Roentgen Rays as an Indication of Age