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Home / Equine Research Bank / Bone / Third metacarpal condylar fatigue fractures in equine athlet...
Bone2010; 47(4); 826-831; doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2010.07.019

Third metacarpal condylar fatigue fractures in equine athletes occur within previously modelled subchondral bone.

Abstract: Bone modelling and remodelling reduce the risk of fatigue fractures; the former by adapting bone to its loading circumstances, the latter by replacing fatigued bone. Remodelling transiently increases porosity because of the normal delay in onset of the formation phase of the remodelling sequence. Protracted intense loading suppresses remodelling leaving modelling as the only means of maintaining bone strength. We therefore hypothesized that race horses with fatigue fractures of the distal third metacarpal bone (MC3) will have reduced porosity associated with suppressed remodelling while continued adaptive modelling will result in higher volume fraction (BV/TV) at this site. Using high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT), we measured the distal aspect of the MC3 obtained at postmortem from 13 thoroughbred race horses with condylar fractures of the MC3 (cases), 8 horses without fractures (training controls), 14 horses with a fracture at another site (fractured controls) and 9 horses resting from training (resting controls). Porosity of the subchondral bone of MC3 was lower in cases than resting controls (12±1.4% vs. 18±1.6%, P=0.017) although areas of focal porosity were observed adjacent to fractures in 6/13 horses. BV/TV of the distal metacarpal epiphysis tended to be higher in horses with condylar fractures (0.79±0.015) than training controls (0.74±0.019, P=0.070), but also higher in controls with a fracture elsewhere (0.79±0.014) than the training controls (0.74±0.019, P=0.040). BV/TV was higher in horses over three years of age than those aged two or three years (0.79±0.01 vs. 0.74±0.01, P=0.016). All metacarpal condylar fractures occurred within focal areas of high BV/TV. We infer that intense training in equine athletes suppresses remodelling of third metacarpal subchondral bone limiting damage repair while modelling increases regional bone volume in an attempt to minimise local stresses but may fail to offset bone fragility.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Publication Date: 2010-07-24 PubMed ID: 20659599DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2010.07.019Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article
  • Research Support
  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research paper investigated fatigue fractures in equine athletes, specifically in the third metacarpal bone (MC3), and found that such fractures occur within previously modelled subchondral bone due to the suppression of bone remodeling under intense training periods.

Objective of the Study

  • The study aimed to explore the relationship between bone modelling and remodelling and its effect on the occurrence of fatigue fractures, particularly in the distal third metacarpal bone (MC3) in race horses.
  • The research hypothesized that race horses with fatigue fractures in the MC3 will display reduced porosity due to suppressed remodelling, while continued adaptive modelling will result in higher volume fraction (BV/TV) at this site.

Methodology

  • The research team used high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) to measure the distal aspect of the MC3 in thoroughbred race horses.
  • The study involved 44 horses in total, categorized into four groups: 13 horses with MC3 condylar fractures (cases), 8 horses in training without fractures (training controls), 14 horses with a fracture at another site (fractured controls), and 9 horses resting from training (resting controls).

Key Findings

  • Findings revealed that porosity levels of the subchondral bone of MC3 were lower in the case horses than in the resting controls. However, areas of focal porosity were noted adjacent to fractures in 6 out of 13 horses in the case group.
  • The BV/TV of the distal metacarpal epiphysis was generally higher in horses with condylar fractures than training controls, but also higher in controls with a fracture elsewhere than in training controls.
  • Furthermore, BV/TV was observed to be higher in horses aged over three years than those aged two to three years. All metacarpal condylar fractures were found within areas of high BV/TV.

Conclusion

  • The study concluded that intense training in equine athletes suppresses the remodelling of third metacarpal subchondral bone, thus limiting damage repair, while modelling increases the regional bone volume in an effort to minimize local stresses, possibly failing to offset bone fragility.

Cite This Article

APA
Whitton RC, Trope GD, Ghasem-Zadeh A, Anderson GA, Parkin TD, Mackie EJ, Seeman E. (2010). Third metacarpal condylar fatigue fractures in equine athletes occur within previously modelled subchondral bone. Bone, 47(4), 826-831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2010.07.019

Publication

Bone
ISSN: 1873-2763
NlmUniqueID: 8504048
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 47
Issue: 4
Pages: 826-831

Researcher Affiliations

Whitton, R Christopher
  • Faculty of Veterinary Science, Equine Centre, University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia. cwhitton@unimelb.edu.au
Trope, Gareth D
    Ghasem-Zadeh, Ali
      Anderson, Garry A
        Parkin, Timothy D H
          Mackie, Eleanor J
            Seeman, Ego

              MeSH Terms

              • Animals
              • Bone Remodeling / physiology
              • Fractures, Stress / pathology
              • Fractures, Stress / physiopathology
              • Horses
              • Metacarpal Bones / diagnostic imaging
              • Metacarpal Bones / pathology
              • Metacarpal Bones / physiopathology
              • Organ Size
              • Physical Conditioning, Animal
              • Porosity
              • Sports
              • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

              Citations

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