Disease Processes of  Synovial Membrane, Fibrous Capsules, Ligaments, Articular Cartilage

Scientists’ understanding of non-infective arthritis dramatically advances every year, and each year when the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) meets, practitioners have the opportunity to absorb the newest information on these perplexing diseases presented by some of the veterinary community’s most respected joint disease specialists.

C. Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc, PhD, FRCVS, Dipl. ACVS, Professor and Director of Orthopaedic Research at Colorado State University (CSU), and past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, reviewed the relevant anatomy and physiology of joint structures, the pathobiology of joints, and their reaction to insult and injury (including synovitis and capsulitis). New understanding of proteinases, prostaglandins, free radicals, and cytokines was reviewed, as were the morphologic and biochemical responses of articular cartilage to insult. McIlwraith also provided information on new recognition of the pathologic process of osteophyte and enthesophyte formation