Repeatability of Three-Dimensional Computed Tomographic Volumetric Measurement of Lumbosacral Intervertebral Foramina in German Shepherd Dogs.

Objectives:  This article determines the repeatability of a recently reported method of volumetric measurement of the lateral intervertebral neurovascular foramina at the lumbosacral junction in German shepherd dogs.

Materials And Methods:  Batch files including the intervertebral neurovascular foramina were derived from previously obtained computed tomography studies of the extended lumbosacral junction of 20 German shepherd dogs and converted into volume datasets. Three observers independently performed five measurements of the left and right lumbosacral intervertebral neurovascular foramina in each dog, using an Extended Brilliance Workstation (Phillips, The Netherlands) to generate a volume of the lumbosacral intervertebral foramina in cubic millimetres, as described by Worth and colleagues in 2017.