Discospondylitis and congenital vertebral body malformations in English and French bulldogs

In this live journal club sponsored by Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging, Dr. Nick Grapes discusses his study of 108 English and French bulldogs with discospondylitis. Vertebral body malformations are frequently identified incidentally, with a prevalence of over 70-80% in neurologically normal French and English bulldogs. While these 'birth defects' may increase the risk of intervertebral disc extrusions, there is no information on an association with discospondylitis, commonly a bacterial infection of a disc and the associated vertebral endplates. This study addresses whether there is indeed a relationship in these breeds with vertebral body malformations, frequently hemivertebrae.