RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THORACIC CONFORMATION AND THE RISK OF GASTRIC DILATATION-VOLVULUS IN DOGS |
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| Authors: | Larry Glickman VMD DrPH Tim Emerick BS Nita Glickman MS MPH Seth Glickman Gary Lantz DVM Cynthia Pérez PhD Diana Schellenberg MS William Widmer DVM MS Qi-long Yi PhD |
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| Institution: | Departments of Veterinary Pathobiology and Veterinary Clinical Sciences, the Center for Applied Ethology and Human-Animal Interaction, and the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine Canine Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus Program, Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN 47907. |
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| Abstract: | To test the hypothesis that breeds of dogs with a deeper and narrower thorax have an increased risk of gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), thoracie depth, width, and length were measured for 437 dogs of 17 different breeds using radiographs on file at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine for the period of 1977 to 1993. These data were applied to risk estimates of GDV that were generated from a separate case control study using the Veterinary Medical Data Base. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to relate the mean thoracie measurements and the ideal, adult body size of the breeds to the risk of each breed developing GDV. When the risk of GDV was evaluated as a function of the mean thoracie depth/width ratio alone, or as a function of the thoracie depth/width ratio plus ideal adult breed weight, 37% (p = 0.022), respectively, of the variability in GDV risk was explained. These findings support the hypothesis tested and suggest that selective breeding can be used to decrease a breed's risk of GDV over time. |
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| Keywords: | dog epidemiology gastric dilatation-volvulus thoracie |
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