However, the mean age was not different between the control and experimental group, and entering age as a covariate in the analyses did not affect the results. Third, it can be speculated whether the maintenance of normoglycemia might be especially beneficial for patients already at risk of cognitive decline, e.g. subjects with subjective memory complaints, or mild cognitive impairment. Since it can be assumed that the cognitive performance of subjects with these symptoms might have been significantly different at the onset, and would have likely shown a stronger decline over time, those subjects should then form separate groups. While this is a valid hypothesis that should be tested in future experiments, our current study did not allow to test for this given the low number of participants, and the heterogeneous study groups. Finally, while patients were controlled for perioperative blood pressure and no group differences were observed, it is possible that fluctuations in bisprectal index or cerebral oxymetry, which were not monitored in our institution, could have influenced postoperative cognitive function. Canine hip dysplasia is a common trait in most dog breeds. This orthopedic condition causes instability and subluxation of the hip with secondary signs of osteoarthritis and clinical signs of lameness. Breed prevalences vary widely from 1% to 75%. In German Shepherd Dogs, prevalence of CHD is estimated at 35%. There is strong evidence in support of a genetic predisposition to CHD in German Shepherd Dogs and many other dog breeds. Heritability estimates for German Shepherd Dogs from different European countries were at h2 = 0.20 to 0.35. Ogerin Results from radiographic screenings for CHD were used for estimation of heritabilities in ML351 threshold and mixed linear-threshold models. In this sample of German Shepherd Dogs, heritability was 0.25 for CHD in the linear model for binary trait definitions regarding only borderline as CHD-affected and mild to severe CHD cases as CHD-affected versus CHD-free dogs.