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Topic:Clinical Pathology
Clinical pathology in horses involves the study and analysis of biological samples to diagnose and monitor diseases and health conditions. This discipline encompasses various laboratory tests and procedures that assess the physiological and biochemical status of equines. Common analyses include hematology, biochemistry, urinalysis, and cytology, each providing insights into different aspects of equine health. Hematology evaluates blood components, such as red and white blood cells and platelets, to identify conditions like anemia or infection. Biochemistry tests measure enzymes, electrolytes, and metabolites to assess organ function and metabolic status. Urinalysis examines urine samples for indicators of renal function and systemic diseases. Cytology involves the microscopic examination of cells from tissues or fluids to detect abnormalities. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, applications, and diagnostic value of clinical pathology in equine medicine.
The clinician’s approach to equine cardiology. The author considers some of the difficulties the clinician may be faced with when giving an opinion on a horse with a cardiac abnormality. The 3 types of cardiological cases presented to the practitioner are described. The first 2 categories both exhibit a reduction in performance either with loss of bodily conduction or without it. The third group, which is the most troublesome for the clinician, involves the horse which shows a cardiological abnormality but is otherwise apparently normal.
Horner’s syndrome in large animals. The sympathetic nervous innervation of the head was surgically transected in the horse, cow, sheep and goat. The site of transection was preganglionic in all 4 species and ganglionic-postganglionic in 2 additional horses. The Horner's syndrome, manifested as a result of the iatrogenic lesion, varied with the species. Ptosis was the most constant sign in all species. Unilateral sweating over the face and proximal neck, particularly at the base of the ear, was the most prominent feature in the horse. The cow revealed distension of vasculature and cutaneous heat of the pinna, and a reduced produc...
Effect of training on some metabolic changes associated with submaximal endurance exercise in the horse. The effects of prolonged cantering before and after a 10 week training programme were studied in 6 horses. Determinations were carried on on venous blood for packed cell volume, glucose, glycerol, free fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate, 11-hydroxycorticosteroids, pH and pCO2. Exercise caused a slight increase in glucose, lactate and pH, a moderate rise in PCV, glycerol and free fatty acids, and a marked rise in 11-hydroxycorticosteroids. A decrease in venous pCO2 occurred and a slight but not significant decrease in beta-hydroxybutyrate. Training was found to cause no significant difference in...
Cardiological problems in equine medicine. This paper outlines the major problems in evaluating and assessing prognosis in horses with minor cardiac abnormalities. It emphasises that progress will only be made if adequate data on the "natural history" of equine cardiac disease can be collected. This will necessitate a long-term study of suitable cases and will require the collaboration of specialist institutions and general practitioners if it is to be successful.
Phenylalanine inhibited p-nitrophenyl phosphatase activity in the serum as an indication of intestinal cellular disruption in the horse. Examination of tissues obtained from thoroughbred horses showed that the 'intestinal' phosphatase activity could be differentiated from other phosphatases by analysis at a pH of 9-5 and inhibition with 15 mM L-phenylalanine. A simple method for the measurement of 'intestinal' phosphatase in heparinised plasma or serum is described. Application of the technique to serum or plasma from normal and diseased horses indicates that the increase in the activity of 'intestinal' phosphatase is associated with cases showing clinical, biochemical and haematological evidence of intestinal damage.
Chromatographic separations of alphavirus strains by hydroxylapatite. Hydroxylapatite column chromatography methods were developed to characterize selected alphavirus populations. Different conditions of pH and phosphate molarity were required to obtain satisfactory elution profiles and separations for Western equine encephalomyelitis virus strains, compared with Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus and Semliki Forest virus strains. Raising the pH of the buffers effected earlier elutions of all viruses. Selection of phosphate gradients with more gentle slopes and adjustment to the proper pH effected better separations of virus subpopulations. Elution profiles ...
Studies on left ventricular isotonic function in conscious and anaesthetized ponies. The effects of thiopentone-halothane and thiopentone-ether anaesthesia on left ventricular isotonic function were assessed in Welsh Mountain ponies from measurements of left ventricular stroke work, minute work, stroke power, mean ejection rate and tension-time index.
All of these variables were affected similarly during anaesthesia, an initial marked reduction being followed by a progressive return towards control levels in the later stages of anaesthesia. Quantitative differences between the effects of each agent were evident, the depression which occurred during halothane anaesthesia bei...
Effects of storage on the methaemoglobin content of equine blood. Equine blood containing different levels of methaemoglobin was stored under varying conditions and the methaemoglobin content was monitored during the storage period. Only under aerobic storage at 4 degrees C did the methaemoglobin content of all samples appear to remain stable.
Ischemic myelopathy caused by fibrocartilaginous emboli in a horse. A horse that suddenly became recumbent had a focal ischemic infarct of the spinal cord between C6 and C7. The infarct was attributed to multiple fibrocartilaginous emboli. Adherence of fibrocartilaginous debris to the outer surface of the dura was interpreted as evidence that intervertebral disc degeneration and displacement of the nucleus pulposus had occurred and that the emboli arose from the disc.
An outbreak of Swainsona poisoning in horses. On 6 properties in south-western Queensland an outbreak of nervous disease occurred horses due to ingestion of Swainsonia (Darling pea). Loss of condition, depression, hyperaesthesia and hyperexcitability were seen in affected horses. At autopsy of 2 horses generalised c ytoplasmic vacuolation was seen in the neurones of the central nervous system and in the liver, adrenal and thyroid. The clinical and pathological features were similar to those described in horses suffering from Swainsona poisoning in Australia and Astragalus and Oxytropis in North America.
Practical methods of determining serum immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G concentrations in foals. Serum concentrations of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) can be determined in the horse with a satisfactory degree of accuracy, using commercially available reagents. Selected lots of anti-human IgM can be used in precipitation tests to detect and quantitate equine IgM. Commercially available anti-equine IgG tended to overestimate the amount of IgG in single radial immunodiffusion tests. Even with these limitations, commercial reagents can be used to differentiate immunodeficiency disorders of foals, including combined immunodeficiency and failure of passive transfer of colost...
RAST in the diagnosis of hypersensitivity to horse allergens. A comparison with clinical history and in vivo tests. Case history, skin tests and RAST were compared in a group (n = 40) of children with a history suggesting allergy to horses and in a group (n = 43) in whom there was no suspicion of hypersensitivity to horses. There was an agreement of 91% between case history and prick test. The same magnitude of agreement was found between case history and RAST (89%), and the agreement between RAST and prick test was 90%. The results of this investigation are clearly in contrast to earlier earlier reports, in that there was a very good correlation between prick test, RAST and case history. The results sugges...
Dystrophic myodegeneration in adult horses. Five horses with histories of colic developed signs of myocardial failure and skeletal muscle disease. Necropsy revealed pale areas in the cervical, pectoral, pelvic, and cardiac musculature; histologically, the lesions were indicative of dystrophic myodegeneration. Serum vitamin E concentrations were normal in 2 of the horses but serum selenium concentrations were normal in 2 of the horses, but serum selenium concentrations were low when compared with values obtained from clinically normal horses.
Equine cerebrospinal fluid: reference values of normal horses. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected from the atlanto-occipital (AO) and lumbosacral (LS) subarachnoid spaces of 24 horses and 21 ponies that had no clinical evidence of neurologic disease. Depth of needle insertion, pressures, refractive index, rapid reagent strip test (protein, glucose, blood, pH) results, cell counts, content of protein, glucose, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, urea nitrogen, and cholesterol, and activities of creatine phosphokinase, aspartate transaminase, lactic dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase were determined. The resulting clinical r...
Effects of blood contamination on cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Data were obtained from 190 cerebrospinal fluid samples collected from both clinically normal and diseased dogs, cats, cows, and horses. Red blood cells, indicating blood contamination, were identified in 115 samples. White blood cells were a rare finding in normal animals. Blood contamination appeared to have little effect on white blood cell numbers even though, in several samples, thousands of red blood cells were identified. An accepted formula to correct for blood contamination was found to be an unreliable method to determine "uncontaminated" values for white blood cells, total protein, ...
[Comparative investigations of depigmented and melanomatous lesions in gray horses of the lipizzaner breed (author’s transl)]. The morphological substrates of pigmented and depigmented skin as well as the structural characteristics of spontaneously developing melanomas were revealed by clinical, light- and electron microscopic methods in gray horses (Lipizzaner breed) from the Vienna Spanish Riding School. On clinical investigations in a group of 31 older horses (more than 10 years old) 20 exhibited melanomas, whereas 23 younger animals (less than 10 years of age) had no evidence for visuable melanotic tumors. Concomitantly with the progressive graying of the hair a depigmentation of the skin was frequently observed. ...
