Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Rev Bras Ortop (Sao Paulo) 2023; 58(05): e771-e780
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1749418
Artigo Original
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Animal Model Standardization for Studying Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral Head in Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease

Article in several languages: português | English
1   Disciplina de Ortopedia e Traumatologia da Faculdade de Medicina da Fundação Educacional do Município de Assis (FEMA), Assis, São Paulo, Brasil
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2   Departamento de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil
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2   Departamento de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil
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3   Departamento de Cirurgia da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil
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3   Departamento de Cirurgia da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil
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3   Departamento de Cirurgia da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil
› Author Affiliations
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Abstract

Objective Testing an experimental model for ischemic necrosis of the femoral head in Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease by evaluating gait, imaging and morphohistology.

Methods The operation was done in 11 piglets. Necrosis by cerclage in the right femoral neck was induced. Piglets were divided into group A, with 8 animals, euthanizing two in the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th weeks, respectively; and group B, with 2 animals (sham), submitted to the surgical procedure without cerclage of the right femoral neck. The gait classification used was that of Etterlin. The frozen femurs were submitted to digital radiography and computed tomography. The height and width of the epiphysis and epiphysary coefficient were measured at study times. Light microscopy and immunohistochemistry with TGF-β1 were performed.

Results One animal died of sepsis in Group A. In this group, claudication was observed in all animals. On digital radiography and computed tomography, bone sclerosis, enlargement of the right femoral neck, flattening, collapse, and fragmentation of the right femoral head were observed. All epiphysis height and epiphysary coefficient values of the right femoral head were lower than the contralateral ones, in which were observed chondrocytes disordered and separated by gaps. A reduction in TGF-β1 expression was observed at 2 and 6 weeks in the right femoral head and at eight in the left. In group B, there were no signs of necrosis and gait was normal.

Conclusions The model presented reproduced macroscopic necrosis on digital radiography, computed tomography, and microscopy. Gait evaluation showed a good correlation with other ischemia findings.

Level of Evidence V. Diagnostic studies.

Authors' Contributions

All authors contributed to the bibliographic survey, realization, analysis, and interpretation of the exams, design, and review of the article as well as in the approval of the final version.


Financial Support

There was no financial support from public, commercial, or non-profit sources.


Work developed at the Veterinary Hospital of the Universidade Estadual de Londrina (surgeries); at the Universidade de São Paulo (light microscopy tests); at the Instituto de Radiologia Manoel de Abreu de Apucarana (imaging exams); at the Tumor Biology Laboratory of the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (immunohistochemistry tests), Londrina, PR, Brazil.




Publication History

Received: 26 October 2021

Accepted: 28 March 2022

Article published online:
13 October 2022

© 2023. Sociedade Brasileira de Ortopedia e Traumatologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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