#Running sheep anatomy free#

1- 3 Despite the reproducible success of surgical treatment for this condition in a short- to mid-term follow-up, 4- 6 several clinically relevant questions remain unanswered 7: What is the natural course of untreated FAI? When is it too late for joint preserving surgery? What is the effect of prophylactic surgery? Which biochemical magnetic resonance imaging methods corresponds best with the histological grade of osteoarthritis? What is the effect of cartilage therapies on the histological cartilage regeneration?Īnswering these questions in human beings is difficult, time-consuming, and often not possible due to ethical considerations such as performing surgery in asymptomatic patients or second look arthroscopies to harvest samples for histological examinations. J Orthop Res 36:2340–2348, 2018.Ĭam-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) has been clearly associated as one of the major contributors for so-called primary hip osteoarthritis. Detailed knowledge about vascular anatomy of sheep hips is of clinical significance since it allows to perform osteochondroplasty of the superior aspherical portion in the experimental ovine FAI model safely without the risk of osteonecrosis.

#Running sheep anatomy free#

The superior aspherical portion is free of vessels. The ovine femoral head receives its blood supply from anterior retinacular arteries from the lateral femoral circumflex artery, and from posterior retinacular arteries from the medial femoral circumflex artery. Sixty-two ovine hips were analyzed using CT angiography (30 hips), post mortem intravascular latex injection (6 hips), vascular corrosion casting (6 hips), and analysis of the distribution of vascular foramina around the femoral head–neck junction in macerated ovine femora (20 hips). The aim of this study was to describe the vascular anatomy of the femoral head in sheep from the aorta to the retinacular vessels in order to perform safe femoral osteochondroplasty of the superior femoral asphericity in sheep. In order to fully exploit the potential of this experimental FAI model, a safe osteochondroplasty of the superior asphericity would need to be done without the risk of avascular necrosis. In sheep, the aspherical portion is located superiorly-exactly matching the region where the superior retinacular vessels enter the femoral head–neck junction in human beings. By performing an intertrochanteric varus osteotomy, cam-type femoroacetabular impingement can be induced experimentally. Sheep hips have a natural non-spherical head similar to a cam-type deformity in human beings.