Oestrus status does not alter breeding suitability assessments regarding medial patellar luxation in female small breed dogs: A blinded multi-observer study.

Study aims were to evaluate if medial patellar luxation clinical grades changed with oestrus status, and to determine interobserver agreement for different classification methods for grading patellar luxation. Intact female dogs were recruited for grading by 3 independent observers on 2 occasions (pro-oestrus/oestrus and dioestrus/anoestrus) using a published grading system. Observers were blinded to oestrus status. Oestrus status was confirmed by vaginal cytology. Observer agreement was determined using Fleiss' multirater kappa on the original grading scores, simplification to the Norwegian Kennel Club system, and further simplification to a binary suitable/not-suitable for breeding system. The exact McNemar's test was used to assess the effect of oestrus on classification. Of 70 dogs recruited, 53 underwent paired observations. Interobserver agreement was considered moderate to very good for the study sub-groups, with overall kappa values of 0.68 (95% CI 0.63-0.72), 0.79 (0.73-0.84) and 0.92 (0.85-0.99), and percentage agreements of 65%, 81% and 94%, for the original, simplified and binary classifications. Oestrus status did not have a significant effect on classification of breeding suitability. Clinicians and owners should not be concerned about the timing of patellar luxation grading in relation to oestrus. Experienced observers show good or very good agreement using the Norwegian Kennel Club and binary categorisations.

The osseointegration stimulatory effect of macrogeometry-modified implants: a study in the rabbit.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the bone stimulatory effect of compression forces through histomorphometric analyses of macrothreaded implants with microthreads in between. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two sets of turned implants with different macrogeometries were prepared. The test group possessed microthreads in between macrothreads, and the control group had macrothreads only. The two-implant groups were placed in both the femur and the tibiae of 10 rabbits. After 4 weeks, the animals were sacrificed and were subjected to histologic processing and histomorphometry. On the prepared stained sections, the total bone area (BA), new BA and bone-to-implant (BIC) were calculated. RESULTS: The mean new BA% (SD) for the test group in the femur presented significantly higher values compared with the control group, being 32.84 (32.5) ± 6.04 and 27.31 (28.19) ± 5.66, respectively (P = 0.04). There were no differences for the new BA in the tibia or the total BA% for both bone types (P = 0.86, P = 0.131, and P = 0.131, respectively). The mean BIC% (SD) in the femur was 13.66 (11.49) ± 6.86 for the test group and 8.48 (7.92) ± 3.31 for the control group and in the tibia, 11.4 (11.88) ± 4.21 for the test group and 13.91 (12.06) ± 6.07 for the control group, respectively. There was no statistical significance among the groups tested. CONCLUSION: The modified implant macrogeometry with microthreads in between promoted effect in the femur. However, no statistical differences could be seen in the tibia, suggesting that the modification may be more effective in bone with poor bone quality, such as in the maxillary bone.