Thermography: a technique for subclinical diagnosis of osteoarthritis

Thermographic and radiographic evaluations of the tarsus (hock) were done on 20 Standardbred racehorses before and after exercise at three consecutive 6-week intervals. All horses were from the same stable and given the same care and training under identical schedules and conditions. Normal thermographic patterns were established before and after exercise. These patterns corresponded to the underlying tarsal vasculature. Postexercise thermal patterns indicated a warming trend, and the increases were uniform. Abnormal thermal patterns were more localized and did not conform to the normal underlying vascular distribution. Five of the 20 horses trained successfully and competed professionally, with 1 of the 5 showing abnormal thermographic changes. Four horses were too slow to race, and all of these had abnormal thermographic changes of their tarsi. The medial aspect of the right tarsus was more commonly involved than the lateral in these horses. Only one horse was clinically lame and exhibited thermal increases, as well as radiographic changes in the right tarsus. The remaining horses were removed from training due to miscellaneous causes. It was believed that the four horses that failed to make minimum track times (for racing) suffered discomfort in their tarsi sufficient to impair performance. This problem was attributed to early subclinical inflammatory changes within the joints. Though difficult to recognize radiographically, these early changes were conspicuous as abnormal thermographic patterns typical of inflammation.