The occurrence of lumbosacral transitional vertebra in two hunting breeds of dogs its association with hip dysplasia

Abstract EN

The lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LTV) has become the topic of discussions of veterinarians, breeders and owners of the dogs, especially in connection with genetics and its possible impact on canine hip joint dysplasia (HD).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of LTV in dogs examined for HD at one clinic during the years 2016 and 2017.

We assessed the possible connection between these two diseases in two hunting breeds: Bavarian Mountain Dog and Hanoverian Mountain Dog.

There is only little evidence, when compared to some other large breed dogs, on occurrence of the LTV in mentioned hunting breeds.

These two breeds are the most common among hunting dogs undergoing HD screening in Slovakia, in addition, they are unlikely affected with clinical signs of the cauda equina entrapment.

The Cauda equina syndrome is the common clinical manifestation of lumbosacral transitional vertebra and this can have negative impact on the mobility and quality of life.

In this study, the incidence of lumbosacral transitional vertebra in the investigated group of 169 dogs was 66.86%.

The LTV type 1 was present in 36.09% of dogs, LTV type 2 was present in 18.34% of dogs and LTV type 3 in 12.43% of dogs.

The direct relationship between occurrence of LTV and HD was not confirmed.