Use of an inverse dynamics method to describe the motion of the canine pelvic limb in three dimensions.

OBJECTIVE: To use an inverse dynamics method to describe the motion of the canine pelvic limb in 3 dimensions. ANIMALS: 6 healthy adult dogs. PROCEDURES: For each dog, 16 anatomic and tracking markers were used to define the center of rotation for the pelvic limb joints and a kinematic model was created to describe the motion of the pelvic limb. Kinetic, kinematic, and morphometric data were combined so that an inverse dynamics method could be used to define angular displacement, joint moment, and power of the hip, stifle, and tibiotarsal (hock) joints in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. RESULTS: Movement and energy patterns were described for the hip, stifle, and hock joints in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Knowledge of the 3-D movement of the pelvic limb can be used to better understand its motion, moment, and energy patterns in healthy dogs and provide a referent with which gaits of dogs with pelvic limb injuries before and after surgical repair or rehabilitation can be compared and characterized. This information can then be used to guide decisions regarding treatment options for dogs with pelvic limb injuries.

Use of an inverse dynamics method to compare the three-dimensional motion of the pelvic limb among clinically normal dogs and dogs with cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifle joints following tibial plateau leveling osteotomy or lateral fabellar-tibial suture stabilization.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the 3-D motion of the pelvic limb among clinically normal dogs and dogs with cranial cruciate ligament (CCL)-deficient stifle joints following tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) or lateral fabellar-tibial suture (LFS) stabilization by use of an inverse dynamics method. ANIMALS: 6 clinically normal dogs and 19 dogs with CCL-deficient stifle joints that had undergone TPLO (n = 13) or LFS (6) stabilization at a mean of 4 and 8 years, respectively, prior to evaluation. PROCEDURES: For all dogs, an inverse dynamics method was used to describe the motion of the pelvic limbs in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. Motion and energy patterns for the hip, stifle, and tibiotarsal (hock) joints in all 3 planes were compared among the 3 groups. RESULTS: Compared with corresponding variables for clinically normal dogs, the hip joint was more extended at the beginning of the stance phase in the sagittal plane for dogs that had a TPLO performed and the maximum power across the stifle joint in the frontal plane was greater for dogs that had an LFS procedure performed. Otherwise, variables in all planes were similar among the 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Gait characteristics of the pelvic limb did not differ between dogs that underwent TPLO and dogs that underwent an LFS procedure for CCL repair and were similar to those of clinically normal dogs. Both TPLO and LFS successfully provided long-term stabilization of CCL-deficient stifle joints of dogs with minimal alterations in gait.

Canine lobular orbital adenoma: a report of 15 cases with distinctive features.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a unique orbital neoplasm in dogs, of lacrimal or salivary gland origin. ANIMALS STUDIED: Fifteen dogs with lesions consistent with a diagnosis of lobular adenomas involving the orbit were identified from the Comparative Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin from 1994 to 2001. RESULTS: The neoplasm occurred in nine females and six males. Affected dogs ranged in age from 7 to 17 years (mean = 9.7 years). Follow-up information was available for 13 of the 15 cases. The clinical presentation included swollen/hyperemic eyelids (4/15), third eyelid protrusion (3/15), conjunctival mass (6/15), exophthalmos (4/15), resistance to retropulsion (2/15), or strabismus (1/15). In 13 cases the masses were composed of nodular, friable tissue and they were solid in two cases. Histologically, the tissue was found in encapsulated lobules resembling well differentiated lacrimal or salivary glands but completely lacking ducts. Granular PAS-positive material was found within the cytoplasm. There was recurrence in 10 of the 13 cases available for follow-up. Of those cases in which enucleation or exenteration was performed (3/15), there was recurrence of disease in one case. In three cases the dogs were euthanized before recurrence at 3 months, 5 months and 3 years post surgery. None of the deaths was related to the tumor. CONCLUSION: In the 15 cases reviewed, lobular adenomas of the orbit presented clinically and histologically as a benign neoplasm of lacrimal or salivary gland origin. Recurrence was likely unless the mass was completely excised, at times requiring orbital exenteration.

Reconstruction of a bilateral hypoplastic soft palate in a cat.

A 2-year-old, female spayed, domestic shorthair cat was presented with a history of dyspnea, upper respiratory congestion, and aspiration. Physical examination revealed a bilaterally hypoplastic soft palate resembling a uvula. A novel surgical technique was performed to reconstruct the soft palate, utilizing both a hard palate-derived mucoperiosteal flap combined with two pharyngeal wall-derived, random-pattern mucosal flaps. This is the first report of a bilaterally hypoplastic soft palate in the cat, as well as a description of a new surgical method for soft palate reconstruction.