Measurement of the tibial plateau angle in cats with and without cranial cruciate ligament  rupture

E. Schnabl; S. Reese; K. Lorinson; D. Lorinson

doi:10.3415/VCOT-07-12-0112

Veterinary and Comparative Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Table of Contents

Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol 2009; 22(02): 83-86
DOI: 10.3415/VCOT-07-12-0112

Original Research

Schattauer GmbH

Measurement of the tibial plateau angle in cats with and without cranial cruciate ligament rupture

E. Schnabl

¹Department of Small Animal Surgery and Reproduction, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

,

S. Reese

²Department of Anatomy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

,

K. Lorinson

³The Small Animal Surgical Center Dr. Lorinson, Vienna, Austria

,

D. Lorinson

³The Small Animal Surgical Center Dr. Lorinson, Vienna, Austria

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Summary

The objective of the present study was to determine the tibial plateau angle (TPA) in cats without stifle pathology and to compare it with cats suffering from an isolated cranial cruciate ligament rupture. Mediolateral radiographs of the stifle were taken and the tibial plateau angle was measured based on the method previously described by Slocum and Devine (1983) for dogs. Three observers with different levels of experience evaluated the radiographs of all of the cats in this study. The mean tibial plateau angle measured by all three observers in the cats with a rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) was 3.1° greater than in cats without stifle pathology. Neither gender, age, body weight nor degenerative joint disease had an influence on measurement results. The authors found an inter-observer variability of ± 5.3°. Hence it can be concluded that cats with cranial cruciate ligament rupture have a greater TPA, and this at least lends some credence to the possibility of higher TPA being a predis-posing factor for cruciate injury in this species.

Keywords

Cat - stifle - tibial plateau measurement - cranial cruciate ligament

Full Text

References

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