Prevalence of osteochondral fragments, osteochondrosis dissecans and palmar/plantar osteochondral fragments in Hanoverian Warmblood horses.

In this study, the prevalences of osteochondral fragments in the distal (DUI) and proximal interphalangeal joints (PIJ) as well as in the fetlock, hock and stifle joints, of palmar/plantar osteochondral fragments in the fetlock joints (POFs) and of osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) in fetlock, hock and stifle joints were estimated in a large sample of Hanoverian Warmblood horses. For this purpose, radiographic findings of 9478 Hanoverian Warmblood horses collected from 2005 to 2011 were analyzed. Overall 31.9% of the horses showed one or more osteochondral fragments in at least one joint. The fetlocks were predominantly affected with a prevalence of 19.7%, followed by the hocks with 8.2% and the stifles with 2.7%. For OCD, an overall prevalence of 14.3% was determined. In fetlock joints, 5.4% of the horses had OCD, in the hock joints 6.9% and in the stifle joints 2.6%, with bilateral occurrence in 25.8% of the hock, 24.9% of the stifle and 12.6% of the fetlock joints. POFs were observed in 6.8% of the horses. With a prevalence of 6.3%, the hindlimbs were significantly more frequently affected than the forelimbs with 0.6%. Of the horses with POFs, 16.5% were also affected with OCD. The high prevalences for osteochondral fragments determined in this study show their great importance with regard to economics and animal welfare.