Title: Body Conformation in Great Danes with and without Clinical Signs of Cervical Spondylomyelopathy Body Conformation in Great Danes with and without Clinical Signs of Cervical 1 Spondylomyelopathy 2 3 4

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.  Body conformation of 15 Great Danes with cervical spondylomyelopathy (CSM) 18 and 15 normal Great Danes was compared. 19  There were no differences in body conformation between clinically normal and 20 CSM-affected Great Danes. 21  Severity of neurological signs was not associated with body dimensions in Great 22 Danes with CSM. 23  Cervical vertebral body dimensions were not associated with body dimensions in 24 Great Danes with CSM. 25  Head size, neck length, and body height and length, do not appear to be related to 26 the development of CSM in Great Danes. Abstract 29 It has been suggested that a combination of large head and long neck cause 30 abnormal forces on the cervical vertebral column and are involved in the pathogenesis of 31 cervical spondylomyelopathy (CSM) in Great Danes. The aim of this study was to 32 compare the body conformation of 15 clinically normal and 15 CSM-affected Great 33 Danes. There were no statistically significant differences between clinically normal and 34 CSM-affected Great Danes in any body measurements. There were no significant 35 associations between body conformation and the severity of neurological signs or 36 cervical vertebral body dimensions determined by magnetic resonance imaging in CSM-37 affected Great Danes. The results of this study do not support the hypothesis that 38 differences in body conformation related to head size, neck length, and body height and 39 length, play a role in the pathogenesis of CSM in Great Danes. 40 41