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Topic:Diagnostic Technique
Diagnostic techniques in equine medicine encompass a range of procedures and tools used to identify diseases, injuries, or other health conditions in horses. These techniques include imaging methods such as radiography, ultrasonography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as laboratory tests like blood work and tissue biopsies. Each diagnostic method provides specific information that can aid in the assessment and management of equine health issues. Radiography is commonly used for evaluating bone structures, while ultrasonography is useful for soft tissue examination. MRI offers detailed images of both soft and hard tissues, though its use is limited by cost and availability. Laboratory tests can detect biochemical and hematological changes indicative of disease. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the development, application, and efficacy of various diagnostic techniques in equine veterinary practice.
Comparison of nuclear scintigraphy and acetaminophen absorption as a means of studying gastric emptying in horses. To evaluate the correlation between halftime of liquid-phase gastric emptying (T50), determined with nuclear scintigraphy using technetium Tc 99m pentetate, and absorption variables of orally administered acetaminophen. Methods: 6 mature horses. Methods: Technetium Tc 99m pentetate (10 mCi) and acetaminophen (20 mg/kg of body weight) were administered simultaneously in 200 ml of water. Serial left and right lateral images of the stomach region were obtained with a gamma camera, and T50 determined separately for counts obtained from the left side, the right side and the geometric mean. Power ex...
Isolation and characterization of an arterivirus defective interfering RNA genome. Equine arteritis virus (EAV), the type member of the family Arteriviridae, is a single-stranded RNA virus with a positive-stranded genome of approximately 13 kb. EAV uses a discontinuous transcription mechanism to produce a nested set of six subgenomic mRNAs from which its structural genes are expressed. We have generated the first documented arterivirus defective interfering (DI) RNAs by serial undiluted passaging of a wild-type EAV stock in BHK-21 cells. A cDNA copy of the smallest DI RNA (5.6 kb) was cloned. Upon transfection into EAV-infected BHK-21 cells, transcripts derived from this clo...
Dynamic tracheal collapse as a cause of exercise intolerance in a thoroughbred. A 2-year-old Thoroughbred filly was admitted to the hospital for evaluation of exercise intolerance. Resting videoendoscopic evaluation (i.e., while the horse was standing) of the nasopharynx and trachea revealed right arytenoid paresis and a tracheal defect that was 100 cm distal to the external nares. Surgery, consisting of a right prosthetic laryngoplasty, was performed. However, postoperative videoendoscopic evaluation revealed minimal abduction of the affected arytenoid cartilage. Dynamic videoendoscopic evaluation (i.e., while the horse was exercising) revealed the right arytenoid to be ...
[Clinical symptoms of and diagnostic possibilities for hypophyseal adenoma in horses]. Hirsutism was the most often observed symptom in horses with a pituitary gland tumor and was present in all 13 examined horses. Other symptoms were atrophy of muscles (n = 10), hyperhidrosis (n = 8), polyuria/polydipsia (n = 5), bulging or supraorbital fat (n = 3), polyphagia (n = 2), apathy (n = 2) and seizures (n = 2). Laminitis was the most frequently observed concurrent disease (n = 8). Hyperglycaemia (mean, 9.9 +/- 3.71 mmol/l) in 13 horses and glucosuria (median, 55 [range, 2-55] mmol/l) in 7 horses were the most important laboratory results. The dexamethasone suppression test was positi...
Use of 99mTc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine to evaluate renal function in horses. Ten healthy horses were injected intravenously with 99mTc-MAG3 and the disappearance of radioactivity from the blood was measured. The total body clearance (Cl(B)) and elimination half-life (t1/2(beta)) were 7.9 +/- 1.5 ml/kg/minute and 32.8 +/- 4.1 minutes, respectively. The disappearance of 99mTc-MAG3 from the blood of 2 horses with compromised renal function was also measured. The data suggest that 99mTc-MAG3 is a useful and clinically applicable radiopharmaceutical for measurement of effective renal blood flow in the horse.
Correlation of two nonradioactive immunoassays to a radioimmunoassay technique for thyroxine measurement in equine serum. The purpose of this study was to compare 2 different nonradioactive assay methods with a conventional radioimmunoassay (RIA) measuring the concentration of serum thyroxine (T4) in horses. Serum was obtained from 85 adult standardbred horses. The T4 concentration of each sample was analyzed by RIA, chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CEI), and homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (HEI). The correlation between the HEI method and RIA method was significantly greater (r = 0.89) than the correlation between the CEI and the reference method (r = 0.53). In addition, the precision of the HEI method was si...
Procedurally similar competitive immunoassay systems for the serodiagnosis of Babesia equi, Babesia caballi, Trypanosoma equiperdum, and Burkholderia mallei infection in horses. Procedurally similar competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay (cELISA) methods were developed for the serodiagnosis of Babesia equi and Babesia caballi (piroplasmosis), Trypanosoma equiperdum (dourine), and Burkholderia mallei (glanders) infections in horses. Apparent test specificities for the B. equi, B. caballi, T. equiperdum, and B. mallei cELISAs were 99.2%, 99.5%, 98.9%, and 98.9%, respectively. Concordances and kappa values between the complement fixation (CF) and the cELISA procedures for the serodiagnosis of B. equi, B. caballi, T. equiperdum, and B. mallei infections in experimentally e...
Improvement of western blot test specificity for detecting equine serum antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona. Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a neurological disease of horses and ponies caused by the apicomplexan protozoan parasite Sarcocystis neurona. The purposes of this study were to develop the most stringent criteria possible for a positive test result, to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the EPM Western blot antibody test, and to assess the ability of bovine antibodies to Sarcocystis cruzi to act as a blocking agent to minimize false-positive results in the western blot test for S. neurona. Sarcocystis neurona merozoites harvested from equine dermal cell culture were heat ...
Causes of poor performance of horses during training, racing, or showing: 348 cases (1992-1996). To determine results for horses undergoing a high-speed treadmill examination, including videoendoscopy of the pharynx and larynx before and during exercise, echocardiography before and after exercise, and electrocardiography before, during, and after exercise, because of poor performance. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 348 horses. Results: A definitive diagnosis was obtained for 256 (73.5%) horses. One hundred forty-eight horses had dynamic obstruction of the airway during exercise, 33 had clinically important cardiac arrhythmias alone, 22 had a combination of dynamic airway obstructi...
Doppler ultrasonographic features of thoracic limb arteries in clinically normal horses. To determine blood flow velocities and indices from spectral waveforms obtained by use of Doppler ultrasonography of thoracic limb arteries of horses and to assess interobserver and patient variability associated with the technique. Methods: 9 clinically normal adult horses. Methods: Left thoracic limb arteries of 8 nonsedated horses were examined at 5 sites by use of pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasonography to determine a range of values for peak systolic, end diastolic, and mean velocities and resistive and pulsatility indices. Interobserver and patient variabilities were determined by 2 operator...
Structure-related echoes in ultrasonographic images of equine superficial digital flexor tendons. To develop a method to discriminate between structure-related echoes and echoes resulting from interference, as observed in transverse ultrasonographic images of equine superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendons. Methods: 2 normal (injury-free) SDF tendons obtained from a 3-year-old Thoroughbred and a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood horse. Methods: Tendons were mounted in a custom-made device that permitted exact transverse and perpendicular sequential scanning with precise steps of 0.5 mm along the long axis of the tendon. Photographs of transverse tendon sections at the exact scanning locations wer...
Determination of intraspecies variations of the V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus. The 16S rRNA gene of 39 S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains and two S. equi subsp. equi strains was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and subsequently digested with the restriction enzyme Hinc II. A restriction profile with two fragments with sizes of 1250 bp and 200 bp could be observed for both S. equi subsp. equi strains and for 30 of the 39 S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains indicating a sequence variation within the V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene of the remaining nine S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus isolates. A segment of the 16S rRNA gene including the hypervariable V2 region of 11 ...
Survey of retinal haemorrhages in neonatal thoroughbred foals. Twenty-seven of 167 neonatal thoroughbred foals (16 per cent) were found to have retinal haemorrhages after a careful examination of the entire fundus. Experience in differentiating haemorrhages from other lesions, and the selection of foals from normal populations, were considered to have an important effect on their apparent incidence. Bilateral haemorrhages were more common and there was a significantly higher incidence in female foals. The numbers of haemorrhages ranged between one and 20; 36 per cent of eyes with retinal haemorrhages had the small punctate type and 56 per cent had the spl...
Detection of antibodies to equine arteritis virus by a monoclonal antibody-based blocking ELISA. A potent ELISA antigen was prepared from equine arteritis virus (EAV) by differential centrifugation of EAV-infected cell culture fluid, followed by solubilization of the preparation by Triton X-100 treatment. Using this antigen and a mouse monoclonal antibody against the G(L) protein of EAV, a reliable blocking ELISA (bELISA) was developed for the detection of EAV antibodies in equine sera. The bELISA was evaluated using a total of 837 test serum samples. The relative sensitivity (n = 320) of the bELISA compared to the serum neutralization (SN) test was 99.4%. The bELISA appears to be a highl...
Antemortem evaluation for magnetic resonance imaging of the equine flexor tendon. In this study antemortem evaluation of equine flexor tendons--the superficial digital flexor tendon and the deep digital flexor tendon--using magnetic resonance (MR) images was performed. Postmortem flexor tendons were used to prepare the slice positions, coil and body positions for MR imaging. It was possible by this method to take antemortem MR images of equine limbs that distinguished features as well as postmortem images described in previous studies. The total time of antemortem scanning was about 40 min. This study is the first to report antemortem MR images in horses.
Development and validation of a monoclonal antibody blocking ELISA for the detection of antibodies against both equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV1) and equine herpesvirus type 4 (EHV4). A monoclonal antibody blocking ELISA was developed for the detection of antibodies directed against either EHV1 or EHV4. For this purpose, we selected a monoclonal antibody directed against a cross-reactive, conservative and immunodominant epitope of both EHV1 and EHV4. High antibody titres were found in rabbit antisera and SPF-foal antisera infected with either EHV1 or EHV4. After experimental challenge of conventional horses with EHV1 or EHV4 significant increases in CF and ELISA titres were found, whereas VN antibodies did not always increase significantly. In 344 paired serum samples submi...
Assessment of muscle oxygenation in the horse by near infrared spectroscopy. This study examined the ability of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to noninvasively determine changes to muscle oxygenation in the resting horse. Five horses had (NIRS) performed over extremity muscle while under general anaesthesia, first with 8 min limb ischaemia, then systemic hypoxaemia for 5 min. A second group of 6 awake horses had NIRS performed over extremity muscle while being administered hypoxic gas (F(I)O2 0.10) for 5 min, and after return to steady state, limb ischaemia was induced for an additional 5 min. In the anaesthetised horses' ischaemia induced marked and significant mus...
Factors affecting accumulation of lactate in red blood cells. In horses, both the post exercise distribution of lactate between plasma and red blood cells (RBC) and the activity of lactate transporters on the RBC membrane vary widely between individuals. In this study, we investigated the effects of pH, time and temperature on lactate distribution in vitro, and compared the in vitro activity of lactate transporters with the accumulation of lactate into RBC in vivo. To accomplish this, we took venous blood samples at rest and after trotting races. The post exercise accumulation of lactate into RBC was shown to depend on the activity of lactate transporter...
Influence of training on autonomic nervous function in horses: evaluation by power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. We studied the influence of training on autonomic nervous function in the horse. For this purpose, Holter electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded before and after training from 24 Thoroughbred horses (2-year-olds) and autonomic nervous function was evaluated by the power spectral analysis of heart rate (HR) variability. We obtained HR, low-frequency (LF) power, high-frequency (HF) power, and LF/HF ratio from recording. We set LF at 0.01-0.07 Hz and HF at 0.07-0.6 Hz. The HF power is thought to reflect primarily parasympathetic nervous function. Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous sys...
Cardiac output measurements using sonomicrometer crystals on the left ventricle at rest and exercise. Eight horses were fitted surgically with 8 ultrasonic sonomicrometer crystals each attached to their left ventricular pericardia and a left atrial catheter. Three horses returned to treadmill performance with a maximum rate of oxygen consumption similar to their presurgical values. These horses were evaluated to determine how well sonomicrometer estimates of cardiac output agreed with those obtained by a steady-state method, the Fick principle. Variance between the 2 was similar to the coefficient of variation (approximately 12.5%) of the Fick estimates. We conclude that left ventricular sonom...
Weak acid-concentration Atot and dissociation constant Ka of plasma proteins in racehorses. The plasma proteins are a significant contributor to the total weak acid concentration as a net anionic charge. Due to potential species difference, species-specific values must be confirmed for the weak acid anionic concentrations of proteins (Atot) and the effective dissociation constant for plasma weak acids (Ka). We studied the net anion load Atot of equine plasma protein in 10 clinically healthy mature Standardbred horses. A multi-step titration procedure, using a tonometer covering a titration range of PCO2 from 25 to 145 mmHg at 37 degrees C, was applied on the plasma of these 10 horses...
Relationship between running speed, isoenzymes of serum creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase and left ventricular function in stallions. The purpose of this study was to assess the possible relationship between maximal running speed, serum isoenzyme patterns of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and echocardiographic indices of left ventricular function. A group of 15 healthy, 3-year-old Maremmano stallions were given a 100 day training programme. At the end of this the animals carried out a maximum speed test and were divided into 2 groups (A and B) according to whether or not they had attained a speed of 15 m/s. Venous blood samples were taken from each horse before exercise (T0), 2 min (T1) and 24 h (T2) af...
Osteoinductive response in the dorsal aspect of the carpus of young thoroughbreds in training occurs within months. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the carpus of 6 Thoroughbreds age 24 months that were exercised on the treadmill for 4.5 months, and of 6 matched control horses. A sagittal slab of known thickness was sawn from one or more of radius, radial carpal (Cr), third carpal (C3), and third metacarpal (Mc3) bones. After the 4.5 month treadmill exercise, there was a significantly greater volumetric BMD in the dorsal aspect of C3 (P = 0.006). Treadmill-exercised horses also had higher BMD in the dorsodistal aspect of the radius (P = 0.03), the dorsal half of ...
Electrolyte vs. glucose-electrolyte isotonic solutions for oral rehydration therapy in horses. An isotonic electrolyte solution with a composition similar to equine sweat was compared to an isotonic glucose-glycine-electrolyte solution for oral rehydration therapy in exercising horses. Ten horses were dehydrated by using frusemide and allocated randomly to receive 4 different oral solutions: isotonic sweat-like electrolyte solution, half-strength hypotonic electrolyte solution, isotonic glucose-glycine-electrolyte solution, and plain water. Solutions were given by nasogastric tube using the same volume as the bodyweight lost by each horse. Blood samples were collected before and through...
Feasibility of scintigraphy in exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage detection and quantification: preliminary studies. We hypothesised that scintigraphic imaging of the lungs following injection of 99mTc labelled red blood cells (99mTc-RBC) in the exercising horse might enable exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) quantification. Ideally, to favour detection of bleeding, circulating 99mTc-RBC not involved in the haemorrhage should be removed from the circulation quickly. Altering RBC during labelling to stimulate splenic uptake of 99mTc-RBC may encourage this. In order to investigate this hypothesis, 99mTc-RBC distribution was followed for 1 h in 2 groups of horses. Group 1 was injected i.v., at rest, ...
Sonographic observations of the peripheral vasculature of the equine thoracic limb. Investigations of the equine peripheral vascular system have been constrained by the lack of a non-invasive method of examining the arteries and veins of the limbs of the conscious horse. Precise correlations were established between the gross anatomical features of the peripheral vessels and their B-mode sonographic appearance in each thoracic limb of 35 horses. A sonographic imaging protocol was established. Additional Doppler sonographic recordings defined the arterial waveforms and demonstrated that blood flow to the foot could be evaluated in the lateral proper digital artery, distal to t...
Zymographic analysis of equine laminitis. To investigate the role of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in the pathophysiology of equine laminitis, the techniques of in situ zymography and quantitative SDS-PAGE zymography were used to analyse the lamellae and plasma and serum of horses with carbohydrate overload-induced laminitis. The gelatinase activity localised within the epidermal lamellae of laminitic hooves did not differ significantly from normal hooves. In laminitis sections there was an increase in vascular gelatinase activity, possibly associated with the perivascular cuffing of polymorphonucleocytes. Both plasma and se...
