Osteochondrosis in the Horse

The term “osteochondritis dissecans” was originally proposed in 1887 by physician Franz König to describe joint lesions that resulted in formation of osteochondral fragments in the absence of significant trauma. The term was somewhat of a misnomer, since a primary inflammatory etiology has since been ruled out. This led to the suggestion of the term “osteochondrosis” (and by extension, osteochondrosis dissecans) by Howald in 1942, but the original name has stuck, as has the more common acronym “OCD.” In veterinary medicine, osteochondrosis (OC) is used for any focal abnormality of endochondral ossificiation affecting the articular-epiphyseal cartilage complex (AECC); if a fragment is present, then osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) is appropriate. More variable terminology is used in the human clinical literature, where lesions of similar pathophysiology, but at different anatomical locations, are named by the person who first described them (e.g. Theimann’s disease in the fingers/toes, Panner’s disease in the elbow).