Intraobserver agreement for the assessment of intervertebral disk width was considered acceptable.
Until such studies have been performed, we do not recommend extrapolating our results of intervertebral disk width to other dog breeds.
When looked at the average of all intervertebral disks, intervertebral disk width was not significantly different between Doberman pinschers with clinical signs of DA-CSM (mean: 5.58mm; ± SD 1.23mm), clinically normal Doberman pinschers (mean: 5.77mm; ± SD 1.21mm) or clinically normal English Foxhounds (mean: 5.54mm; ± SD 1.18mm) (p=0.42).
To calculate the volume of the vertebral segment, segment length l (centrum length+length of disk space), width D1, and height D2 must be known; D3 and D4 are the major and minor axes of the more posterior ellipse.
Only the first measurements from the first author were further used to determine intervertebral disk width in the different groups of dogs.
Therefore the aim of this study was to assess the association between intervertebral disk width, measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and clinical status, age, gender and intervertebral disk location in dogs with and without clinical signs of DA-CSM.
Intervertebral disk width was measured at the widest point of the intervertebral disk as the distance of a line, originating at and perpendicular to, the cranial endplate of a vertebral body to the caudal endplate of the adjacent cranial vertebral body.
Therefore, the aims of this study were to evaluate the influence of age, gender, intervertebral disk location, and clinical status on intervertebral disk width.
Second, it has been suggested that intervertebral disk width cannot be reliably assessed on low-field MRI in case of complete intervertebral disk degeneration [ 9].
Intervertebral disk width was not significantly different between Doberman pinschers with clinical signs of DA-CSM, clinically normal Doberman pinschers or clinically normal English Foxhounds (p=0.43).
