Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Canine Hip Dysplasia: Comparison with FCI Radiographic Scoring System

Canine hip dysplasia (CHD) is a common orthopedic condition characterized by joint laxity, abnormal femoral head development, and osteoarthritis. Radiography remains the gold standard in diagnosis; however, ultrasonography (US) can detect bone and additional periarticular and soft tissue changes earlier in CHD progression. Forty-four hips from twenty-two adult dogs of various breeds were graded according to the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) and grouped as: normal (A, B) and dys-plastic (C, D, E) hips. Canine hip US evaluation, using the ventral femoral head–neck approach, included: capsule thickness at the femoral head index (CTFHi) and capsular-synovial fold thickness index (CSFTi) both measured in mm/body weight*100; femoral head shape score (FHSs), femoral head–neck transition score (FHNTs), and osteophyte score (Os), were evaluated qualitatively and then converted into a numerical score. Twenty-three hips were FCI scored as normal and twenty-one as dysplastic. The US pa-rameters medians, CTFHi, CSFTi, FHSs, FHNTs and Os, were 2.02, 7.79, 1.00, 1.00, 0.00 in normal hips group and 3.11, 9.32, 3.00, 2.00, 1.00 in dysplastic hips group. Sig-nificant differences were observed in most US parameters evaluated. Strong associa-tions were found between CTFHi, FHNTs, and Os, indicating progressive bone remod-elling. These findings support the US use as an alternative tool for CHD diagnosis and monitoring.