# Flattening of the femoral head



## DanielleH (Nov 4, 2006)

What does flattenting of the femoral head mean? Does it mean the dog is going to end up with HD? My friends border collie had his x-rays done and the vet told my friend that his x-rays showed flattening of the femoral head, and Scerlosis (that could be spelled wrong).. what is scerlosis?


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Flattenting of the femoral head is the ball the goes into the socket of the hip and is defintely early stage of HD. Whether it gets any worse deepends on how flatten or how the hip joint developes. Scerlosisin the dog has to do with the eyes. As gogs grow older they lay down new lenses over the old andsometimes this hardens to the fact the news lenses don;t work right and can hardened again somewheat like cataracts.


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## bizzy (Mar 30, 2007)

sclerosis is also a term that is used to descibe how bone looks on x-ray. It mean that the bone(i'm assuming the femoral hd) appears whiter than it should on the film. There are many differnt things that can cause it but it can be from some type of degenrative condtion perhapse whatever is flatting the femoral hd


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## DanielleH (Nov 4, 2006)

TheHooch said:


> Flattenting of the femoral head is the ball the goes into the coket of the hip and is defintely early stage of HD. Scerlosisin the dog has to do with the eyes. As gogs grow older they lay down new lenses over the old andsometimes this hardens to the fact the news lenses don;t work right and can hardened again somewheat like cataracts.


Her BC is still a baby not even a year old yet, what kind of live is he going to have with these problems?


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## laika (Jun 20, 2007)

ahh poor doggie , I hope it doesn't hurt her . I would like to ask you a question , is her border collie limping or sore or something like that ? We have a border collie and she seems fine, never had any problems but if this is something that is not visible maybe I need to bring het to the vet just to be on the safe side ..

I hope your friend's dog gets better soon ..


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## DanielleH (Nov 4, 2006)

laika said:


> ahh poor doggie , I hope it doesn't hurt her . I would like to ask you a question , is her border collie limping or sore or something like that ? We have a border collie and she seems fine, never had any problems but if this is something that is not visible maybe I need to bring het to the vet just to be on the safe side ..
> 
> I hope your friend's dog gets better soon ..


My friends border collie left rear leg turns inward when hes standing and when he's walking. He doesn't limp or show any signs of pain, all seems fine except for that leg turning in.. but even that doesn't seem to bother him. He still plays, runs, and acts like a normal pup.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

bizzy said:


> sclerosis is also a term that is used to descibe how bone looks on x-ray. It mean that the bone(i'm assuming the femoral hd) appears whiter than it should on the film. There are many differnt things that can cause it but it can be from some type of degenrative condtion perhapse whatever is flatting the femoral hd


 
While what Hooch describes is lenticular sclerosis, essentially cataracts, I think that in this context bizzy is correct. Sclerosis is often from normal "wear and tear" and frequently is mistakenly diagnosed as dysplasia. However, given the young age of the dog in question, and with flattenening of the femoral head, early HD is not unrealistic. The hip is a ball & socket joint, with the femoral head being the ball, and the acetabulum the cup shaped socket. The "ball" should fit snugly into the "socket". Flattening of the femoral head will cause it to sort of slop around in the socket, further wearing it down.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

If the pup does have HD and ever needs surgery, the pup will have a great life if the owner can afford the expense. My Shadow makes me smile every day and he had an FHO and a THR before he was 12 months.

Remember, not all dogs need surgery...


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## DanielleH (Nov 4, 2006)

Pointgold said:


> While what Hooch describes is lenticular sclerosis, essentially cataracts, I think that in this context bizzy is correct. Sclerosis is often from normal "wear and tear" and frequently is mistakenly diagnosed as dysplasia. However, given the young age of the dog in question, and with flattenening of the femoral head, early HD is not unrealistic. The hip is a ball & socket joint, with the femoral head being the ball, and the acetabulum the cup shaped socket. The "ball" should fit snugly into the "socket". Flattening of the femoral head will cause it to sort of slop around in the socket, further wearing it down.


Thanks PG, Hooch, and bizzy for your replies, they've been very helpful.


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## DanielleH (Nov 4, 2006)

Kimm said:


> If the pup does have HD and ever needs surgery, the pup will have a great life if the owner can afford the expense. My Shadow makes me smile every day and he had an FHO and a THR before he was 12 months.
> 
> Remember, not all dogs need surgery...


Hopefully her puppy will not need surgery but if should come to that, roughly what is the price range she'll be looking at?


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