Measurement of the femoral neck anteversion angle in the dog using computed tomography

Simple and accurate limb and pelvic conformation evaluation using computed tomography (CT) can be useful in planning canine hip dysplasia (CHD) treatment and in helping to understand the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and CHD. The objectives of this study were to describe a new method for femoral neck anteversion angle (FNA-angle) measurement in CT, and to compare it to the established radiographic standard biplanar method. The hips of 23 Estrela Mountain Dogs were evaluated using radiography and CT and their FNA-angles were determined by performing two CT examinations and with one radiographic measurement session. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate the repeatability (agreement between the two CT sessions, ICC=0.92) and reproducibility (agreement between each CT and radiographic session, ICC=0.91 in both cases) of the CT FNA-angle measurement method. This study suggests that CT FNA-angle measurement method is reliable and can be used in CT hip studies with confidence.