Roxy's CD said:
Penn hip? That's just what it's called? Are their any other names?
I don't want to lie to myself but I guess it could be possible. As I mentioned her form of HD is not a shallow acetbulum (sp) or femora (sp lol) but the angle that the femur/femora lacks.
Here is more info
A new test
In 1983, Dr. Gail Smith, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, began researching early diagnosis of CHD. Through his work, he has created the PennHip method for measuring joint laxity (looseness) the primary cause of degenerative joint disease. The distraction index (DI) used in the PennHip method serves as a measurement of passive hip laxity, the degree of looseness of the hip joint when the dog's hips are completely relaxed. Dogs with a DI of 0.3 have tighter hips and are less likely to develop DJD, while those with looser hips whose DI values approach 0.7 or more are at greater risk.
The PennHip x-ray method is unique for several reasons.
First, it is a well-researched, objective method following strict scientific protocols and published in peer-reviewed veterinary literature.
Second, the distraction index assigned to each hip joint is based on precise measurements and mathematical calculations. Dr. Smith and his colleagues feel this is superior to a subjective description of “shallow acetabulum” as found in an OFA report.
Third, veterinarians who wish to submit films to PennHip are required to be trained in the techniques and to be certified. This assures that standard protocols will be used in obtaining the films and helps insure accurate data.
OFA x-rays can be done by any veterinarian, with or without anesthesia or muscle relaxants. The x-rays are examined by three radiologists who report their findings to OFA; the dog is rated severely dysplastic, mildly dysplastic, fair, good, or excellent or may be given a non-rating letter requesting submission of new x-rays in six months.
Although dogs must be two years old or older to get an OFA rating, the foundation will evaluate preliminary x-rays on younger dogs.
Recent studies of the OFA method of hip evaluation reveals a wide variation in the conformational grade assigned by different radiologists. Not only might one radiologist disagree with another, but may even contradict himself and give different grades to the same film on different occasions. Tests comparing positioning shows that the hip-extended position used by OFA tends to drive the femoral head into the socket, masking the amount of laxity and artificially improving the look of the hip joint.
As part of the strict quality control with PennHip, all x-rays must be taken under anesthesia to provide the greatest amount of muscle relaxation. This is particularly important when using a special positioning device called a distractor to help demonstrate hip laxity.
To maintain the integrity and validity of the PennHip method and its ongoing research, all x-ray films taken are submitted for evaluation. This prevents corruption of the data which occurs when films are screened and only the “best” are submitted for consideration. In otherwords OFA does not requre that all xrays for the evaluation be submitted therefore thier information is limited to those who do submit xrays which are usually ones that have been determined by a vet to pass. Therefore there is no cause for a non pass to send in the xrays therefore OFA's statistics are not as accurate as they should be.
PennHip evaluation reports are not pass-fail. Instead, each dog is ranked compared to other dogs of that breed. A dog with a percentile ranking of 30 percent has tighter hips than 30 percent of the dogs evaluated. In other words, 70 percent of the dogs evaluated have tighter hips than the patient.
PennHip and International Canine Genetics, the company that markets PennHip and manages the data base, do not make specific recommendations about breeding specific dogs; they leave that decision to the breeder. In general, their advice would be to breed only those dogs in the top 50 percent, those with tightest hips (or the lowest DI) as compared to other dogs of that breed. It is presumed that, as dogs with tighter hips are bred to each other, the average DI will decrease. leading to tighter, healthier hips and a decreased incidence of hip dysplasia.
While no one promises that the PennHip method of measuring hip joint laxity will be 100 percent accurate in predicting which dogs will develop hip dysplasia, it is superior to any other available diagnostic method. As more breeders become aware of PennHip testing and more veterinarians become certified in the method, it is sure to become more widely available and more familiar to dog breeders and owners.
