Presença de "Linha Morgan" como indicador de displasia coxofemoral em cäes da raça Pastor-Alemäo / Presence of Morgan-Line as an indicator of canine hip dysplasia in German Shepherd dogs

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study, was to determine the relationship between the presence of Morgan line and hip dysplasia. From June, 1986 to October, 1993, 190 X-ray plates of German Shepherd dogs, from both sexes were collected and analyzed. The results showed that out of the 190 dogs evaluated, 136 (71.6 per cent) had hip dysplasia, 43 (22.6 per cent) presented Morgan line and 41 (21.5 per cent) showed both of them. Just two (1.1 per cent) dogs presented Morgan line without hip dysplasia. No statistically significant difference was found between males (21.8 per cent) and females (23.3 per cent). From this study it can be concluded that the presence of the Morgan line can be considered indicative to hip dysplasia diagnosis, even though the absence of the line does not exclude the possibility of hip dysplasia