- Emma’s OCD Fragments
OCD in this case is not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – although there may be some of that going on around here, too. But the one we’re talking about is defined by wikipedia as follows:
Osteochondritis dissecans is a joint disorder in which cracks form in the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone. . . loss of blood flow causes the subchondral bone to die in a process called avascular necrosis. The bone is then reabsorbed by the body, leaving the articular cartilage it supported prone to damage. The result is fragmentation (dissection) of both cartilage and bone, and the free movement of these osteochondral fragments within the joint space, causing pain and further damage.
Emma’s shoulder OCD had broken loose and was floating around in the joint, already causing her pain. Conventional x-ray did not show the fragment, but when contrast media was injected into her shoulder, “dark spots” could be visualized in the joint space. Once the shoulder OCD had been diagnosed, survey radiographs were taken of the rest of her high-probablility joints. The left hock had a lesion that was not causing trouble at the time, but was removed during the same surgery.
After the surgery, Dr. Adams (PUVTH) held out theses two test tubes and asked if I wanted to keep the fragments they had removed from Emma’s joints. My first thought was, “Eeew, no.” But then I thought, “Well, I’ve just paid a lot of money for these, I should probably keep them.” Sorry, I don’t remember which came from the hock & which from the stifle.