Study Examines Osteoarthritis Formation After Fetlock Injury

According to previous research, the fetlock is the site of more traumatic and degenerative lesions on racehorses than any other joint. In fact, another study published by the same group indicated as many as 70% of 2- and 3-year-old racehorses could suffer from some form of osteoarthritis. The effects of osteoarthritis on articular cartilage have been studied more extensively than its effects on the subchondral bone (which is located under the bone surface within a joint), and the study’s authors wanted to learn more about the disease mechanism there.
Study authors Antonio Cruz, DVM, MVM, MSc, DrMedVet, Dipl. ACVS, ECVS, said the bone and cartilage structure can be thought of as a mattress and box spring.
“This is a study to investigate the mechanism of disease pertaining post-traumatic osteoarthritis,” he explained. “Is it a disease that originates initially from damage to cartilage or from damage to bone or from simultaneous damage to both? How do they relate? Is the mattress (cartilage) damaged first or the spring box (bone underneath)? This is important for horse’s health because our primary focus in dealing with osteoarthritis has been the cartilage and may be we need to think more about the bone
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