Synovial folds of the lateral atlantoaxial joints in dogs: a magnetic resonance, anatomic, and histologic study

Synovial folds are present in canine atlantoaxial joints free from known atlantoaxial disease. Dorsal and ventral folds could be visualized on post-mortem macroscopic and histological examinations. The larger ventral folds were consistently visualized using MRI with fat-suppressed VIBE sequences. The anatomical structure of the canine synovial folds suggests a similarity to humans, indicating that some conditions may analogously affect the synovial folds. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the clinical relevance of these synovial folds in dogs.