• Purpose
• OFA's Fee Schedule
• What is Hip Dysplasia?
• How Common is Hip Dysplasia?
• Incidence of Hip Dysplasia?
• Recommended Breeding Principles
• What should I check before purchasing a Samoyed?
• AVMA Positioning Required
• What happens to the xray after it arrives at OFA?
• Does OFA require chemical restraint (anesthesia)?
• Radiographic Criteria
• Should bitches be radiographed around a heat cycle?
• Film Copies
• Rating Categories
• OFA Number Interpretation
• How does OFA hip scheme compare to FCI classifications?
• Correction of Anecdotal Misinformation
• OFA's website
• Contact OFA
• Acknowledgment
• References
• Favorite Links

The purposes of the OFA hip registry are:

• to provide a standardized evaluation for hip dysplasia;
• and to serve as a database for control of hip dysplasia through selective breeding.
• Note: To date, the OFA maintains the world's largest database on hip conformation.

OFA preliminary evaluations (dogs evaluated between 4 and 23 months of age) are about 90% accurate when compared to repeat studies at 2 years of age. [TOP]

How Common is Hip Dysplasia?
The incidence of dysplasia in any given breed is unknown. The majority of dogs evaluated by the OFA are submitted by breeder clientele concerned with controlling canine hip dysplasia. Therefore, the OFA data, while biased toward normal due to prior screening by referring veterinarians, can serve as a benchmark for the frequency of CHD in the breeding population. (see Table 1). [TOP]

Incidence of Hip Dysplasia
The incidence of CHD is breed dependent and improvement depends on responsible breeding practices. It has been demonstrated that the frequency of CHD can be reduced by responsible selective breeding practices (see Table 2). [TOP]

• Breed normals to normals.
• Breed normals with normal ancestry.
• Breed normals from litters with a low incidence of CHD.
• Select a sire that produces a low incidence of CHD.
• Replace dogs with dogs that are better than the breed average.

What should I check before purchasing a Samoyed?
Do your homework: Prospective buyers should check pedigrees for OFA numbers prior to purchasing a dog. If an OFA number cannot be verified, do not assume the dog to be dysplastic-free. [TOP]

AVMA Positioning Required
The OFA requires a ventrodorsal radiograph with the pelvis symmetrical, femurs parallel to one another and approximately parallel to the table, and with the patella on the midline. The radiographic technique should be sufficient so that the trabecular bone pattern and the dorsal rim of the acetabulum can be seen. [TOP]

Radiographic Criteria
All radiographs are screened for positioning and technique upon arrival. If the radiograph is not diagnostic it is returned to the referring veterinarian.

Acceptable radiographs are then evaluated independently by three (3) board certified veterinary radiologists and a consensus derived.

The hips are evaluated for subluxation, shallow acetabulum, femoral head/neck remodeling, acetabular rim/edge changes, and degenerative joint diseases. With the introduction of optical archiving and remote viewing from magnetic media, the average report time is now 15 days with 87% of the evaluations finishing in less than 20 days. [TOP]

Should bitches be radiographed around a heat cycle?
Some female dogs show subluxation when radiographed around an estrus cycle which is not apparent when re-radiographed in anestrus. The OFA recommends radiographing 3 to 4 weeks before or right after a heat cycle, or 3 to 4 weeks after weaning a litter of puppies. [TOP]

Film Copies
Due to optical archiving, the OFA can no longer supply copies of films. If a copy is necessary, be sure to ask your veterinarian to insert two (2) films into the cassette prior to making the exposure. This normally requires an approximate 15% increase in the "kVp" to make an exact duplicate of the radiograph which will be sent to OFA. [TOP]

Categories of Hip Ratings

OFA Number Interpretation

[TOP]

OFA hip scheme vs FCI classifications?

• There are currently no proven environmental factors which cause canine hip dysplasia (CHD).
• There is currently no scientific evidence supporting that megadoses of vitamin C or any other supplement is beneficial in reducing the effects from or preventing hip dysplasia.
• High caloric intake resulting in rapid growth may exacerbate changes in dysplastic hips, but will not create hip dysplasia (more studies are still in progress).
• Exercise, running, jumping up and down, and slick floors will not cause hip dysplasia.
• Prior injuries to the femurs and/or pelvis may be detected radioraphically, and are taken into account when evaluating hip status.

For more information, visit OFA's official website. [TOP]

Contact OFA directly for specific information on the OFA registries:

Orthopedic Foundation For Animals
2300 E. Nifong Blvd.
Columbia, MO 65201-3856
phone (573) 442-0418
fax (573) 875-5073

Dr. R.A. Weitkamp ~ President
Greg Keller, DVM, MS ~ Executive Director

ofa@offa.org

[TOP]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

I'd like to thank the Orthopedic Foundation For Animals for their permission to reproduce this information from the Hip Registry brochure. [TOP]

REFERENCES:

1. CORLEY EA et al: Reliability of early radiographic evaluation for canine hip dysplasia obtained from the standard ventrodorsal radiographic projection. JAVMA, Viol. 21 1, No. 9, Nov. 1, 1997 p. 1142-6.
2. KANEENE JB et al: Retrospective cohort study of changes in hip joint phenotypes of dogs in the United States. JAVMA, Vol. 21 1, No. 12, Dec. 15, 1997, p. 1542-4.
3. BANFIELD Cm et al: A retrospective study of canine hip dysplasia in 116 military working dogs. JAARA 1996; 32, Part I & 2, p. 413-430.

Table 1. Breed risk for Samoyed Hip Dysplasia (Jan. 1974 - Dec. 2009)

Born to

 1980

Born

1990-92

Born

2000-2002

Born

2003-2004

• Panosteitis---Information on Growing pains, OCD, HOD, Hip & Elbow Dysplasia from Labbies.com
• Panosteitis by Jill Dickin on the Critterhaven.org website
• Panosteitis on the SiriusDog.com website
• A Series of Articles on Canine Hip Dysplasia by John C. Cargill, MA, MBA, MS and Susan Thorpe-Vargas, MS 
  Part I - Overview
  Part II - Causative Factors of Canine Hip Dysplasia
  Part III - Pros and Cons of standard diagnostic methods
  Part IV - The Role of Orthopedic Registries in Fighting Canine Hip Dysplasia
  Part V - Predicting the Abnormal Hip
  Part VI - Treatment of this disease tailored to your pet's needs
  Part VII - Surgical Options (part I)
  Part VIII - Surgical Options (part II)
• PennHip Q & A and the Method of PennHip from canismajor.com
• A veritable gold mind of information on Hip & Elbow Dysplasia from workingdogs.com, including both points of view: PennHip vs OFA

Other Orthopedic Links

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