Presença de "Linha Morgan" como indicador de displasia coxofemoral em cães da raça Pastor-Alemão

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the presence of Morgan line and hip dysplasia. From June, 1986 to October, 1993, 190 X-ray plates of German Shepherd dogs, from both sexes were collected and analyzed. The results showed that out of the 190 dogs evaluated, 136 (71.6%) had hip dysplasia, 43 (22.6%) presented Morgan line and 41 (21.5%) showed both of them. Just two (1.1%) dogs presented Morgan line without hip dysplasia. No statistically significant difference was found between males (21.8%) and females (23.3%). From this study it can be concluded that the presence of the Morgan line can be considered indicative to hip dysplasia diagnosis, even though the absence of the line does not exclude the possibility of hip dysplasia