Longitudinal study of bone mineral densitometry in young Golden Retriever dogs: Correlations with age and body weight

Abstract

Radiographic Optical Densitometry is an analitic method to meansure bone mineral content. This technique was performed by right tíbia simple radiograph conjugated with an aluminium stepwedge in 5 Golden Retriever dogs. Monthly, all the dogs were radiographed from 3-mouths until 9-mouths old. Radiographs were digitalized and analyzed by an image processing software (ImageLab, Softium), which compares the aluminium grey scale tonalities with a bone region analyzed obtaining with this the value of bone mineral density in aluminium milimeters (mmAl). The epifisary region possess higher bone mineral density (BMD) followed for the metafisary and diafisary regions, respectively, during the experimental period and followed by the behavior of the corporeal weight. There was a trend of increase of the bone mineral density. The proximal metafisary region of tíbia, in growth dogs, demonstrated to be the best region of selection to evaluate the bone mineral density since it is place studied with less correlation with the corporeal weight, and for be enable to anothers factors influences in the regulacion of BMD, like some disease who promote osteopenia, producing a earlier diagnosis.