The images were viewed using an eFILM DICOM viewer workstation 3.1 (Merge Healthcare https://estore.merge.com/na/index.aspx) by one of the authors (CR) who
assigned a unique reference number to each dog and determined CM and syringomyelia status according to the British Veterinary Association / Kennel Club Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia Health Scheme (
Table 1) This
grading system also takes into account the dog's age at the age at time of MRI [32].
In elementary schools in the United States, students are
assigned grades ranging from an A to an F, based on the mark they've achieved out of 100 (see Wikipedia's
table here).