Dimensions of Canine Intervertebral Discs in different stages of degeneration

Abstract

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a commonly occurring entity in both humans and dogs. Although much research on both human and canine IVDD has been published, including the pathological changes within the IVD and subdivision into the five different stages of degeneration, no research is published on the dimensions of the canine IVD in different stages of degeneration yet. Research on the dimensions of the IVD is essential for the development of a spontaneous IVDD disease model as well as for the production of a nucleus pulposus prosthesis and even entire artificial IVD’s as future innovative treatment in IVDD disease. In the current paper an association is searched between IVD height and the stage of degeneration, by using histology slides of 14 dogs of various breeds, ages and gender. In addition other parameters such as IVD width, area, celltype of the nucleus and thickness of the endplates are measured and connected to the stage of degeneration, breed, age, weight and gender of the dogs as well as the IVD location. The outcomes show that, next to dog weight and intervertebral disc location, the degeneration stage correlates with the dimensions of the IVD. Though, due to the compilation of the relative small group, it was not possible to acquire reliable statistical significant values. By expanding the research group, a possible statistical significant correlation may be found between the stage of degeneration and the dimensions of the canine IVD.