Research Article Open Access

Femoral and Tibial Angular Assessment in Pomeranian Dogs with Medial Patellar Luxation: Limited Correlation with Clinical Severity

Abstract

Medial Patellar Luxation (MPL) is highly prevalent in small breed dogs, including Pomeranians. Although radiographic evaluation guides surgical planning, the lack of breed-specific angular reference values for small dogs complicates the assessment of femoral and tibial deformities. This study aimed to radiographically evaluate femoral and tibial angles in Pomeranian dogs with varying grades of MPL and discuss the implications for establishing specific reference standards. Thirty-five pelvic limbs from 19 Pomeranian dogs were prospectively evaluated and categorized into MPL grades I (n=12), II (n=20), and III (n=3). Craniocaudal femoral radiographs and caudocranial/mediolateral tibial radiographs were obtained under sedation. Femoral angles (including ICA, FVA, aLPFA, aLDFA, mLPFA, mLDFA) and tibial angles (mMPTA, mMDTA, mCrPTA, mCrDTA, TPA) were measured using standardized techniques. Angles were compared between MPL grades using the Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.05). The mean age of the dogs was 41.5 ± 26.3 months, and the mean weight was 4.3 kg ± 1.4 kg. Bilateral MPL was present in 84% of the dogs.

Mariana Corneglian de Carvalho Machado¹, Luiz Felipe Souza de Lima¹, Anna Julia Brandão Paes de Barros¹, Alison Henrique Ferreira¹, Jéssica Ribeiro¹, Yara Meirelles², Lianna Ghisi Gomes1, Roberto Lopes de Souza1*

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