Summary
There is disagreement about the manifestations of elbow pathology that should be included under the umbrella of elbow dysplasia. This is highlighted by variable inclusion or exclusion of diseases like ununited medial epicondyle1 and elbow incongruity2 with the more commonly recognized and historically grouped triad of (1) disease of the medial aspect of the coronoid process (medial coronoid disease; MCD); (2) osteochondrosis (OC) or osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the medial humeral condyle; and (3) ununited anconeal process (UAP). Variations in grouping syndromes within elbow dysplasia contributes to confusion among veterinarians and dog owners about the precise nature of disease involved.
Whereas several diseases may coexist within the same joint,3–5 it has become increasingly apparent from histomorphometric,6 biomechanical,2,7,8 and genetic or heritability9,10 data that there is considerable independence in development of these multifactorial disease processes. This is further complicated by the spectrum of clinical signs and macroscopic pathology associated with any single disease process,11 which has important implications for treatment and prognosis. Clearly, there is no single treatment for all recognized manifestations of elbow dysplasia, so seemingly, the initial step in developing a clinically useful decision-making algorithm is to deconstruct this oversimplified nomenclature.
