A new article from Equine Veterinary Journal is now available on Wiley.com titled, “Preliminary data on the effect of osseous anatomy on ex vivo joint mobility in the equine thoracolumbar region.” This article can be purchased online.
Summary
Reasons for performing study
The thoracolumbar region is clinically important in horses, however the link between joint mobility and bony joint morphology has not been tested quantitatively.
Objectives
To establish which aspects of vertebral morphology correlate with ex vivo range of motion in the thoracolumbar region of Equus caballus, and demonstrate methodologies for linking vertebral form and function in the vertebral column.
Study design
Morphometric study of osteological specimens.
Methods
A digital model was created of a disarticulated thoracolumbar region to examine bone-to-bone interactions during in silico bending. Linear measurements and geometric morphometric landmarks were taken from six vertebrae per specimen (specimen n = 5, vertebrae n = 30), and compared to experimental range of motion in dorsiflexion, ventroflexion, lateroflexion and axial rotation data using Spearman’s rank correlation, to test a priori hypotheses regarding thoracolumbar functional anatomy.
Results
Decreased sagittal mobility correlates with a tall, heart-shaped vertebral body, though bony interactions restrict dorsiflexion more than ventroflexion. Lateroflexion correlates with a narrow vertebral body, a short transverse process lever arm, and narrowly-placed horizontally-oriented zygapophyses. Lateral joints also restrict lateroflexion in the posterior lumbar region. Axial rotation is related to shape of the zygapophyseal joint.
Conclusions
These preliminary data suggest that vertebral joint morphology does determine experimentally-measured range of motion, but patterns depend upon the type of motion. These methods are useful for identifying functionally-relevant morphological variation and suggest osteological features are important in determining motion.
Author
K.E. Jones, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
