Morphological changes of osteoarthritis in feline stifle joints and associations to intra-articular mineralization

• MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES OF OSTEOARTHRITIS IN FELINE STIFLE JOINTS AND ASSOCIATIONS WITH INTRAARTICULAR MINERALIZATION A. Leijon*, C.J. Ley y , A. Corin y and C. Ley* *Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health and y Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is common in cats. However, there are no detailed histological descriptions of feline stifle OA. Intra-articular mineralization (IAM) is commonly detected in feline stifle radiographs, but the association between small IAMs and feline OA is unclear. The purpose of this study was to describe OA lesions in feline stifle joints and to investigate associations between articular cartilage lesions, synovitis and IAMs. Materials and Methods: The right stifle joints from 29 cats (age 1e23 years, median 9) were examined for IAM using computed tomography and radiography, followed by macro- and microscopical evaluation of joint tissues. Articular cartilage lesions and synovitis were graded histologically. Cartilage lesions were summarized into global joint scores (GJS, n 5 28). Associations between cartilage lesions, synovitis and IAMs were determined. Results: The most frequent location of cartilage lesions was the tibia (27/29 joints), followed by the patella (14/28 joints). The majority of cartilage lesions were low grade. Femoral cartilage lesions (2/29 joints) were only seen in joints with severe tibial cartilage lesions. Synovitis was present in 13/29 joints and always low grade. IAMs were detected in 13 joints, 11 were classified as small. Neither GJS nor synovitis scores were associated with IAMs; however, increased GJS was associated with synovitis (P 5 0.001). Conclusions: OA lesions in the articular cartilage were common and associated with synovitis. Tibial cartilage may represent the most common site for detection of early morphological cartilage changes of feline stifle OA. Lack of association between GJS and IAMs suggests that small IAMs are incidental findings in OAaffected joints.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Veterinärmedicin -- Patobiologi (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Veterinary Science -- Pathobiology (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Veterinärmedicin -- Klinisk vetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Veterinary Science -- Clinical Science (hsv//eng)

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