Dysphagia-Associated Muscular Dystrophy: A Familial Trait in the Bouvier des Flandres

摘要

When 75 dogs with dysphagia were examined between 1986 and 1988, 30 were Bouviers des Flandres; in 24 of these, the dysphagia was caused by muscular dystrophy of the pharyngeal and esophageal muscles. The anatomical consistency and breed-related incidence of this disorder aroused suspicion that it may be hereditary. To investigate the possible genetic characteristics of this disorder, a more detailed cross-sectional study of the pedigree data was undertaken. The pedigree of 19 of the affected Bouviers was compared with that of 136 randomly chosen Dutch-bred Bouviers born during the same period. Genetic relationships between affected dogs and controls were determined by examining the number of times each of 4,805 total ancestors (6 generations) occurred in the pedigrees.