Traumatic Osteochondrosis of the Equine Third Metacarpal Bone Condyle : Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings and their Relationships with Exercise History

The authors used different imaging techniques and histological examination to investigate the relationships between subchondral changes and articular cartilage lesions of traumatic osteochondrosis of the equine third metacarpal bone. Their findings have provided significant evidence that the weakened underlying subchondral plate and subchondral fracture could result in articular cartilage collapse and full thickness articular cartilage loss of traumatic osteochondrosis. The potential relationships of exercise history and these morphological changes, as well as the measures of subchondral trabecular microstructure suggest carefully modifying training protocols should prevent catastrophic injury in Thoroughbred racehorses caused by traumatic osteochondrosis.