Lateral and medial tibial plateau angles in normal dogs. An osteological study

To measure lateral and medial tibial plateau angle values in isolated canine tibiae and to compare lateral and medial tibial plateau angle values between dogs based on sex and breed.

Tibiae of 90 dogs from 24 different breeds were used. Photographs were taken of the medial and lateral aspects of the tibiae for measurement of the medial and lateral tibial plateau angles. Additionally, the medial tibial plateau angle was measured from radiographs of the tibiae. Two-way analysis of variance was used to test the effects of side, sex and breed on the medial and lateral tibial plateau angles as measured from photographs as well as the medial tibial plateal angles as measured from radiographs. The photographic and radiographic medial tibial plateau angles were compared by paired t-test, whereas the medial and lateral photographic tibial plateau angles were compared by t-test.

When all dogs were included in the analysis, the difference between the mean medial tibial plateau angle (24.0 ± 3.19°) and the mean lateral tibial plateau angle (25.5 ± 3.84°) as measured from photographs was significant (p <0.05). The difference in the photographic medial tibial plateau angle between male and female dogs was significant (p <0.05), whereas the difference in the photographic lateral tibial plateau angle between sexes was not significant. There was a significant difference between the medial and lateral tibial plateau angles as measured from photographs in male dogs (p <0.05) but not in female dogs. Breed comparisons also showed significant differences for the photographic lateral tibial plateau angle (p <0.05).

The axial rotation of the femoral condyles on the tibial plateau is probably affected by the discrepancy between the medial and lateral tibial plateau angles, and this difference in certain breeds might influence the prevalence of cranial cruciate ligament disease.