The Impact of Navicular Bone Shape and Fragments in Horses

Thehorse.com - Full Article

by: Casie Bazay, BS, NBCAAM
August 11 2011, Article # 18665

Navicular disease is not always straightforward for veterinarians to diagnose and treat, but new study findings that focus on the shape of the navicular bone (NB) and fragments found near it could help veterinarians better understand this disease in horses.

"The significance of distal border fragments of the navicular bone is not well understood," the researchers noted in the study. "There are also no objective data about changes in thickness and proximal (upper) and distal (lower) extension of the palmar cortex (rear-facing outer layer) of the navicular bone."

A recent retrospective study performed by Marianna Biggi, DVM, PhD, and Sue Dyson VetMB, PhD, at the Centre for Equine Studies at The Animal Health Trust, in Suffolk, England, examined the significance of fragments along the lower border of the NB, as well as the differences in thickness of the palmar cortex of the NB in 55 sound horses and 377 lame horses. The team hoped to better understand the distribution of distal border fragments and their association with radiological abnormalities of the NB, and to evaluate differences in the shape of the navicular bone in sound and lame horses and horses...

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Thehorse.com - Full Article