ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery
Premature closure of the caudal calvarial midline suture is associated with scaphocephaly and ventriculomegaly in Boxer dogs
Provisionally accepted
- 1Small Animal Hospital, Giessen, Germany
- 2Justus-Liebig-Universitat Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Boxer dogs exhibit a distinctive skull morphology resembling scaphocephaly in humans. This study investigates the status of skull sutures in Boxer dogs in comparison with other brachycephalic and mesocephalic breeds. Methods: Archival magnetic resonance images of the heads of 312 dogs with variable skull morphologies were examined. Sutures and synchondroses of the skulls were assessed as open or closed, and the presence or absence of ventricular dilation was noted. Results: A total of 160 dogs belonged to the mesocephalic group, 103 were brachycephalic, and 49 were Boxer dogs. Age was a predictor for closed sutures and synchondroses (p < 0.05). Sutures and synchondroses were more likely closed in brachycephalic compared to mesocephalic dogs (p < 0.0001). In addition, brachy-and mesocephalic dogs were less likely to show a closed sagittal suture (S4), parietointerparietal suture (S9) (p < 0.0001), and lambdoid sutures (p <0.05) than Boxer dogs. Cranial index was higher in brachycephalic dogs compared to mesocephalic dogs and Boxer dogs and significantly differed among all groups (p < 0.05). Width/height index of the skull was significantly different among all groups and lowest in Boxer group (p < 0.05). Boxer dogs more likely experienced ventriculomegaly than the other breeds (p < 0.0001). Discussion/conclusion: The parietointerparietal and sagittal suture are more likely fused in Boxer dogs. A premature suture closure is most likely responsible for the Boxer dog's unique skull morphology or scaphocephaly and an associated ventriculomegaly, which resembles a non-syndromical craniosynostosis in humans.
Keywords: Brachycephaly, canine, Craniosynostosis, Osteogenesis, Skull
Received: 05 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Farke, Guillier, Büttner and Schmidt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Daniela Farke, daniela.farke@vetmed.uni-giessen.de
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.