KER.Equinews.com - Full Article
By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · March 17, 2014
As young horses grow, their skeletons develop and mature through a process in which most of the soft, flexible cartilage is replaced by mineralized bone. Osteochondrosis was initially defined as a disturbance of growing cartilage cells. While this normally proceeds smoothly, in horses with osteochondrosis, the cartilage or growth plates do not mature into bone as normal. Retention of the cartilage can then lead to osteochondritis dissecans or subchondral bone cysts.
The current view is that osteochondrosis may lead to osteochondritis dissecans or subchondral cystic lesions. Bone cysts also sometimes develop secondary to a defect. Osteochondrosis was originally suggested to be a generalized condition, occurring in multiple sites. However, osteochondritis dissecans and lesions may be found in one particular joint, but may not occur elsewhere. Certain biomechanical factors, perhaps including injuries during development, may also be important factors...
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