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. 2023 May;13(5):663-667.
doi: 10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i5.20. Epub 2023 May 25.

Evaluation of proximodistal patellar alignment in small breed dogs with or without patellar luxation using the Insall-Salvati, Caton-Deschamps, and Blackburne-Peel indices

Radka S Garnoeva  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of proximodistal patellar alignment in small breed dogs with or without patellar luxation using the Insall-Salvati, Caton-Deschamps, and Blackburne-Peel indices

Radka S Garnoeva. Open Vet J. 2023 May.

Abstract

Background: Patellar luxation in dogs is thought to be related to proximally (patella alta) or distally (patella baja) positioned patella in the femoral trochlea.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to calculate and compare the values of Insall-Salvati (ISI), Caton-Deschamps (CDI), and Blackburne-Peel indices (BPI) in orthopedically healthy dogs and dogs with various grades of medial patellar luxation (MPL) from small breeds on mediolateral radiographs.

Methods: The study included 87 dogs (138 stifles) from four breeds (Mini-Pinschers, Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, and Yorkshire terriers). Seventy joints (53 dogs) were diagnosed with various grades of MPL and another 68 joints from 34 dogs, free of orthopedic or neurological disorders, were used as controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of the three indices.

Results: The CDI and BPI showed no significant difference between healthy and MPL joints. The ROC analysis showed that all three studied indices of proximodistal patellar position had poor diagnostic values with low sensitivity and specificity of respective cutoff values.

Conclusion: In dogs from the studied four small breeds, the proximodistal ISI, CDI, and BPI patellar indices could not discriminate reliably between healthy stifle joints and joints with MPL.

Keywords: Blackburne–Peel index; Caton–Deschamps index; Insall–Salvati index; Medial patellar luxation; Small dog breeds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Measurement of indices of proximodistal patellar position. A. The ISI is measured as the ratio of the patellar tendon length (a) to the distance between proximal and distal patellar poles (b); B. The BPI is the ratio of the height of the distal pole of the articular surface above the tibial plateau line (a) to the patellar articular surface length (b); and C. The CDI is determined as a ratio of the distance between the distal point of the patellar articular surface (a) and the cranioproximal margin of the tibia, divided by the patellar articular surface length (b).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. ROC curves of IS and BP indices in relation to MPL based on 138 stifle joints from Pinschers, Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, and Yorkshire Terriers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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