[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Irritated with the OFA
- From: "Melissa" <melanagsd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:08:06 -0500
OFA's own website admits the evaluation is subjective and that radiologists
agreed on the same rating only 73.5% of the time.
From OFA Website:
When results of 1.8 million radiographic evaluations by 45 radiologists were
analyzed, it was found that all three radiologists agreed as to whether the dog
should be classified as having a normal phenotype, borderline phenotype, or HD
94.9% of the time. In addition, 73.5% of the time, all three radiologists
agreed on the same hip phenotype (excellent, fair, good, borderline, mild,
moderate or severe). Twenty-one percent of the time, two radiologists agreed on
the same hip grade and the third radiologist was within one hip grade of the
other two. Two radiologists agreed on the same hip grade and the third
radiologist was within two hip grades of the other two 5.4% of the time. This
percentage of agreement is high considering the subjective nature of the
evaluation.
This is why I only use OFA as a "tool". Unless there's significant subluxation
with arthritis and remodeling, I'm not going to discard an otherwise excellent
animal from the gene pool.
Anyway, I hope your girl gets better soon.
Melissa
www.melanashepherds.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pam Brink" <pamb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 6:44 AM
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Irritated with the OFA
> OFA now has a "Follow Up" program for dogs that have been previously rated
> for hips and elbows. In 2005, I sent in my X-rays on one of my bitches that
> came back with a "Good" reading.
>
>
> This past month I took her in to the vet because she was no longer leaping
> into the car as usual but was waiting for me to heft her rear end in. I
> wondered if there was some sort of pathology. 4 lower body X-rays' later my
> young vet explained to me that my bitch was dysplastic and gave me the full
> lecture with the X-rays. (There were no signs of any arthritic changes
> anywhere.) I questioned how she could have become dysplastic when her early
> OFA's rated her as "Good." Vet had no idea. I showed her the OFA
> certificates I had with me and she thought she might want to look at those
> earlier X-rays. Later in the week she called me to say that she had showed
> the X-rays to a colleague in the clinic who thought perhaps my bitch was on
> the borderline of being dysplastic. By that time I had found out about the
> OFA Follow up Program and asked her to check on that. She did so and called
> OFA who verified that my information was correct. The X-rays were sent off
> to the OFA and I got the report yesterday.
>
>
>
> The OFA report described the 3 X-rays that were sent and concluded with "the
> X-rays are much the same as they were in 2005 and would be rated "Fair""
>
>
>
> Now what I can't understand is, how can hips look the same and be rated Fair
> when they were originally classified as Good by 3 independent readers in
> 2005? How is it possible that vets can be so widely disparate in their
> X-ray readings gong from dysplastic, to borderline to clear? Makes no sense
> to me at all. What I find irritating is that we rely on these readings to
> make breeding decisions, yet reading and rating X-rays appears to be more an
> art than a science. I hesitate to call it guess work.
>
>
>
> I just needed to rant. Apparently GSDs are suspected of being dysplastic
> far more often than other breeds. But I no longer trust the OFA.
>
>
>
> Pam Brink
>
> http://clubweb.interbaun.com/~pamb/index.php
>
>
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