Comparing the Hearts of German shepherd and
Mongrel Dogs Using Statistical Shape Analysis
Guven Ozkaya*, Gulsum Ozyigit1, Ilker
Ercan and Ilker Arican1
Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine;
1Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, UludagUniversity,
Bursa/ Turkey
*Corresponding Author:ozkaya@uludag.edu.tr; guvenozkaya@gmail.com
Abstract
The aim of this study was to conduct a
statistical shape analysis of the heart of dogs and to compare this data between
German Shepherd and Mongrel dogs. An effective way to examine these shapes is to
record the locations of certain points on the object. In this study, 10 hearts
were collected from each breed. EDMA and TPS techniques were used to examine
genus-based changes in the shape of the heart. The shape deformations
were expressed using expansion and compression grids. There was no statistically
significant difference with respect to the general shape of the heart between
the genera. However, there were local shape differences between the genera in
some of the inter-landmark distances: 6% of the inter-landmark distances were
greater in German Shepherd dogs, and 11% were greater in Mongrels. There are no
heart shape differences between genera, although significant differences were
found between the upper part of the left ventricle and the lower part of the
right ventricle. The upper part of the left ventricle in Mongrels showed more
enlargement than in German Shepherds. The lower part of the right ventricle in
Mongrels had more enlargement than in German Shepherds; however, the middle part
of the right ventricle of German Shepherds had more enlargement than in
Mongrels. Although there were some local significant shape differences between
the upper part of the left ventricle and the lower part of the right ventricle,
however, there were no general heart
shape differences between German Shepherd and Mongrel dogs.
Key words: Cardiomyopathy, German Shepherd dog, Heart,
Mongrel Dogs