The patient is a 4 year old FS Golden Retriever dog with intermittant lameness of the left hind leg. R/O partial CCL tear left stifle
The patient is a 4 year old FS Golden Retriever dog with intermittant lameness of the left hind leg. R/O partial CCL tear left stifle
Ultrasound of the left stifle – Left stifle joint:
The supra- and infrapatellar recess of the left stifle joint contain a moderate and mild
amount of effusion respectively. The joint capsule reveals moderate thickening.
Moderate synovial proliferations are noted.
The cartilage layer as appreciated onto the femoral condyles is even in thickness and
smooth in outline. The subchondral bone of the femoral condyles as appreciated is
smooth in outline.
A moderate amount of osteophytes is noted at the periarticular margins.
The cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) is mildly thickened and increased in echogenicity.
The outline of the CCL reveals mild surface irregularity. Except for small focal
hypoechoic areas the fibre pattern is largely maintained. Periligamentous effusion is
seen.
The infrapatellar fat body is heterogenous and contains cystic changes as found
commonly in degenerative joint disease (DJD).
The medial meniscus is in situ with even surface and uniform echogenicity. No
superficial tearing is seen. There is no perimeniscal effusion.
The left cranial cruciate ligament presents signs of advanced degeneration and edema.
Emerging fibre disruption is a potential but a partial or complete rupture is not seen
and biomechanical failure is not likely at this point.
Consider aspiration of synovia to rule out other underlying pathologies such as
recurrent activated arthritis, immune mediated arthropathy or infectious arthropathy
(including tick borne).
