Cartilage thickness measurement in foals.

The talus and proximal and distal epiphysis of the humerus, radius, femur, tibia and distal metacarpus of 20 foals aged 0 to 150 days were obtained at necropsy and sawn sagittally into slabs 4 to 8 mm thick. The thickness of the cartilage (articular cartilage and unossified epiphyseal cartilage) was measured in three to five places in each slab, using a sliding calliper. In most epiphyses, the site, or sites, of thickest cartilage was constant in all foals examined. The difference between thickest and thinnest cartilage within one epiphysis was greatest in distal femora and least in distal metacarpi. The sites of most common occurrence of osteochondrosis dissecans in tali and proximal humeri concurred with the site of thickest cartilage in these bones. The most common site of equine osteochondrosis, the middle and distal thirds of the lateral trochlear ridge of femora, is not the location of thickest cartilage in this epiphysis. Haematological epiphyseal osteomyelitis in foals occurs most frequently in the areas where cartilage thickness is greatest in the medial femoral condyle, talus and distal radius.