Topic:Clinical Findings
Clinical findings in horses encompass a range of observable signs and symptoms identified during veterinary examinations that contribute to diagnosing and managing equine health conditions. These findings can include physical observations, such as changes in behavior, posture, or gait, as well as physiological measurements like heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature. Diagnostics may also involve laboratory tests, imaging, and other diagnostic procedures to assess organ function and detect abnormalities. Recognizing and interpreting clinical findings are essential components of veterinary practice, aiding in the identification of diseases, monitoring treatment progress, and guiding therapeutic interventions. This page brings together peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, interpretations, and implications of clinical findings in the context of equine health care.
Follicular and luteal development in pregnant mares. Examination of the ovaries of mares at various stages of pregnancy and after hysterectomy, together with measurement of progesterone concentrations in the peripheral plasma of pregnant and hysterectomized mares and in uterine and ovarian venous plasma of pregnant mares, demonstrated that the primary CL of pregnancy remains functional until at least Day 160 of gestation. The results showed that primary and secondary CL, and the placenta or uterus, all contribute to the total progesterone pool in mares during pregnancy. Similarities and differences in ovarian function observed between pregnant a...
Effects of acetylpromazine on ventilatory variables in the horse. The influence of breathing various concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen upon minute volume, tidal volume, and respiratory rate were examined in acetylpromazine-tranquilized horses. Responses in the horses before (control period) and after tranquilization were qualitatively similar to increases in carbon dioxide and to alterations in oxygen. The quantitative responses to these changes were less in tranquilized horses than in the same horses studied in the untranquilized state. Tranquilization had its most prominent effect upon respiratory rate in horses breathing room air.
Endocrine patterns of the mare at term. The levels of progesterone and total progestins increased during late pregnancy and then fell dramatically during the last few days before parturition, although birth occurred in the presence of significant amounts of plasma progesterone. Oestrogen levels decreased slowly but insignificantly until birth occurred, and then remained at a low level until the post-partum oestrus 10 to 12 days later. Total 11beta-hydroxycorticosteroids were unchanged from Day 45 before to Day 15 after birth. The endocrine pattern of one ovariectomized pregnant mare during the last month of gestation was similar to ...
Clinical management of equine ovarian neoplasms. The rarity of equine ovarian neoplasms is attested to by the lack of reports in the literature. However, sixteen cases have been diagnosed at the Iowa State University Veterinary Hospital in the last 3 years and, of these, the granulosa-cell tumour was the most common. A study of the clinical and subsequent histories of these and other mares reveals some common findings as to age, breed, reproductive status, clinical signs, and post-surgical reproductive capability.
Some clinical observations on the effect of an implant of oestradiol benzoate in brood mares. The clinical effects and therapeutic value of a 500 mg implant of oestradiol benzoate was observed in thirty-nine Thoroughbred brood mares showing various abnormalities of the ovary and/or the reproductive tract. Sixteen similarly affected, untreated mares acted as controls. The implant was inserted during the early part of the normal anoestrous period and was removed 6 to 10 weeks later. The conception rate among the treated group (59%) during the onset of the ensuing breeding season was significantly higher (P less than 0-02) than that in the control group. The value of this form of treatmen...
Chromosome abnormalities as a cause of infertility in mares. Chromosomal abnormalities have been detected in seven mares isolated by their poor reproductive performance. All had small or rudimentary gonads and absent or irregular oestrous cycles. Two mares had an XO genotype, one was a 65,XXX female and another a 64,XY sex-reversed female. Two other mares were sex chromosome mosaics of the 63,X/64,XX type. The seventh mare showed a normal female karyotype but a small extra autosomal fragment was found in a few cells.
Levels of LH, prolactin and oestrogens in the serum of post-partum mares. The levels of LH, prolactin and oestrogen were measured by radioimmunoassay in serum obtained from six mares during the post-partum period, and LH was also assayed in blood samples collected at 6-hr intervals from four normal cyclic mares during oestrus and at daily intervals during dioestrus. The concentrations of oestrogen and LH suggested that the mares were having ovulatory cycles during the post-partum period irrespective of behavioural oestrus, and the levels of prolactin seemed to rise in association with probable ovulatory LH peaks. In these mares levels of LH had increased significant...
The oestrous cycle of the mare. In eleven non-pregnant mares examined for 2 years, oestrous cycle length was 20-6 days (range 13 to 34) excluding any anoestrous periods. The duration of oestrus was 5-7 days (range 1 to 24); from February to May it was 7-6 days (range 2 to 24) and from May to November 4-8 days (range 1 to 10). The majority of ovulations occurred between 16.00 and 08.00 hours and 78% of the mares ovulated within 48 hr of the end of oestrus. Mean follicular diameter was 45 mm on the day of ovulation and there was a 25-5% incidence of multiple ovulations. It was uncommon for oestrus to occur without ovulation, w...
Ejaculatory disorders of the stallion. Ejaculatory disorders of the stallion seem to occur more frequently than hitherto accepted. The condition is manifested differently in individual stallions from normal copulation without ejaculation to an abnormal pattern of copulation without or with occasional ejaculation. The condition is probably caused by a functional disturbance of the nervous mechanism which controls the ejaculatory process, and may be caused by environmental or other factors. Eleven cases of ejaculatory disorders in normal healthy stallions were investigated and three of these animals recovered after simple correction ...
The use of Gn-RH for controlling the oestrous cycle of the mare (preliminary report). Clinical tests with synthetic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Hoechst) were made during the breeding seasons of 1973 and 1974, using 128 mares injected with 1-0 to 4-0 mg of the substance intramuscularly. The mares were placed in one of five groups based on ovarian condition determined by clinical evidence. Some success was obtained in the induction of ovulation in mares with inactive and sub-normally active ovaries and in a small group having cystic ovaries. A large proportion of mares having a mature follicle responded within 48 hr, but others with atretic follicles failed to respond. The u...
Plasma LH levels in the mare during the oestrous cycle. Plasma levels of LH were determined by heterologous radioimmunoassay utilizing highly purified equine LH as standard. Samples were taken regularly from eleven mares for twenty-six oestrous cycles over a period of 10 weeks. The mean cycle length was 20-5 +/- 3-1 (S.D.) days, and ovulation occurred on average 4-3 +/- 1-6 (S.D.) days from the time heat was first detected. Levels of LH were persistently low from Days 5 to 16 of the cycle (ovulation = Day 0). They then increased slowly over a number of days and continued to rise beyond the levels observed at any time during the immediate preovulato...
Postnatal changes in total and free thyroxine and triiodothyronine in foal serum. Total tyhroxine (TT4), free thyroxine (FT4), total triiodothyronine (TT3) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) concentrations in foal umbilical cord blood were respectively 14, 5 7 and 3 times the concentrations of these hormones in adult horse blood. The TT4 levels in foals declined rapidly to reach adult concentrations by Day 16 and FT4 levels declined steadily during the first 3 months of life. Foal TT3 levels rose during the first 10 hr after birth and thereafter declined, although they were still X2-5 higher than adult levels at 3 months of age. Levels of FT3 similarly increased after birth be...
An intersex (male pseudohermaphrodite) horse with 64XX/XXY mosaicism. The clinical, pathological and chromosomal findings in a male pseudohermaphrodite horse are reported. This animal appeared to be a female but showed strong male sexual behaviour. A small penis emerged from a rudimentary vagina. Two small testes were present in the abdomen and undifferentiated seminiferous tubules contained only supporting cells. No uterus was found. Culture of peripheral blood leucocytes revealed a 64XX/65XXY mosaicism.
Neuropathology of the convulsive foal syndrome. Brains from eighteen Thoroughbred foals suffering from the convulsive foal syndrome were examined neuropathologically and compared with brains from nine foals dying from different causes. In the brains of nine convulsive foals there was necrosis of the cerebral cortex, accompanied in three by severe necrosis of the diencephalon and brain stem; haemorrhage into the cerebral cortex was also present in most of this group. In the other nine brains from convulsive foals there was haemorrhage, often severe, especially in the white and grey matter of the cerebral cortex and in the cerebellum. Minimal...
Studies on dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate toxicity: clinical, gross and microscopic pathology in the horse and guinea pig. Concentrations of dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS) ranging from three to five times the recommended dosage produced severe diarrhea, rapid dehydration and death in seven horses and 66 guinea pigs when administered experimentally per os. Clinicopathological findings indicated hemoconcentration in both horses and guinea pigs. There was a leucocytosis in the guinea pigs given the highest dosages. In all cases the principal finding at necropsy was extreme fluid distention of the intestinal tract. There was histopathological evidence of epithelial denudation and vascular stasis. The LD50 in the ...
The use of prostaglandin F2alpha-tham salt in mares in clinical anoestrus. Seventy-three Standardbred and Thoroughbred mares in clinical anoestrus during the breeding season were treated with PGF2alpha. The mares were divided into four categories; foaling, barren, maiden and unknown. The response was consistent in all groups. Mares at Days 2 to 4 of dioestrus showed no decrease in plasma progesterone levels, and those at Days 6 to 8 showed a return of progesterone to baseline levels (less than 1 ng/ml) in 24 to 48 hr after treatment. Plasma progesterone levels returned to basal levels in 24 to 48 hr in 93% of mares; progesterone levels had not changed by 96 hr in 7% ...
Digitoxin metabolism by rat liver microsomes. The chest roentgenographic findings in Takayasu's arteritis include widening of the ascending aorta, contour irregularities of the descending aorta, arotic calcifications, pulmonary arterial changes, rib notching, and hilar lymphadenopathy. The single most important diagnostic sign is a segmental calcification outlining a localized or diffuse narrowing of the aorta. The other signs may be suspicious or suggestive, but the diagnostic accuracy increases when several findings are present simultaneously.
Digitoxin metabolism by rat liver microsomes. The chest roentgenographic findings in Takayasu's arteritis include widening of the ascending aorta, contour irregularities of the descending aorta, arotic calcifications, pulmonary arterial changes, rib notching, and hilar lymphadenopathy. The single most important diagnostic sign is a segmental calcification outlining a localized or diffuse narrowing of the aorta. The other signs may be suspicious or suggestive, but the diagnostic accuracy increases when several findings are present simultaneously. A routine screening of monoclonal gammopathies (M.G.) was performed in the serum from 36, 015 ...
Nerve distribution in the metacarpus and front digit of the horse. The nerve distribution to the digit of the horse was studied with the compound microscope in serial transverse sections of fetal limbs and plotted on life-size outlines of the horse's foot. It was learned that there is much variation in the topography of the branches of the principal nerves. There is no mirror-image nerve distribution on the 2 sides of the foot. The dorsal branch of the ulnar nerve does not extend below the fetlock. The communication between the palmar metacarpal nerves and branches of the dorsal branch of the digital nerves is only a crossing of nerves without exchange of fib...
The effect of excess dietary iodine on pregnant mares and foals. On a thoroughbred stud four foals were born with greatly enlarged thyroids and leg weakness. Two foals died within 18 hours of birth, the others subsequently recovered. An enlarged thyroid was also evident in one of the resident mares. The thyroids from the dead foals were hyperplastic. Feed analyses showed that the mares had an iodine intake of about 83 mg daily, 8-8 ppm of the dietary dry matter, due almost entirely to the high iodine content of a proprietary compound horse nut which had been fed at the daily rate of 12 lb per head. It was concluded from the histology of the thyroids, the hi...
Papers and articles measurement of central venous pressure in horses. Central venous pressure measurements were made in 74 horses and ponies free from clinical evidence of cardiopulmonary disease. Using the sternal manubrium as the zero reference point, the mean value obtained was 12 cm H2O (S.D. +/- 6). There was a significant correlation with body weight (r=0.6, p less than 0.001) but there was none with age, sex, breed or type. During halothane anaesthesia, using the same reference point, the mean value was 24.5 cm H2O (S.D. +/- 6) in 28 animals in right lateral recumbency, 29 cm H2O (S.D. +/- 8) in 17 animals in left lateral recumbency and -6 cm H20 (S.D. +/...