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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.
Subchondral cystic lesions (osteochondrosis) of the femoral heads in a horse. Bilateral subchondral cystic lesions of the femoral head in a horse resulted in lameness. The lesions had resulted in degenerative disease in the left coxofemoral joint. The cause of lameness was confirmed by use of intra-articular anesthesia, joint fluid analysis, and radiography. Subchondral cystic lesions involving the femoral head should be considered in the differential diagnosis of equine lameness localized in the upper portion of the hind limb.
Effect of dorsopalmar projection obliquity on radiographic measurement of distal phalangeal rotation angle in horses with laminitis. The effect of dorsopalmar projection obliquity on calculation of distal phalangeal rotation (DPR) angle was determined in 8 feet obtained from 5 horses that had been euthanatized because of laminitis. A true lateromedial view of each foot served as a reference, with additional views taken at 5, 10, 15, and 20 degrees of x-ray tube head rotation in both a dorsal and in a palmar direction. Projection obliquity resulted in consistent underestimation of DPR angle. Where projection obliquity exceeded 10 degrees, there were significant (P less than 0.05) differences in DPR angle. The magnitude of un...
T lymphocyte development in horses. I. Characterization of monoclonal antibodies identifying three stages of T lymphocyte differentiation. Six monoclonal antibodies reacting with equine T lymphocytes at different stages of maturation were selected from antibodies produced against lymphoid cell preparations. EqT12 and EqT13 antibodies identified subsets of cortical thymocytes with high terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase (TdT) activity and no phytolectin responsiveness. EqT12+ thymocytes were scattered throughout the cortex while EqT13+ thymocytes were located in the subcapsular cortex. EqT12 bound to small numbers of bone marrow cells, splenocytes, and circulating lymphoid cells, but not to mature T lymphocytes. EqT13 bound to v...
Small colon intussusception in a broodmare. A 9-year-old pregnant Standardbred broodmare was evaluated for signs of mild abdominal pain, failure to defecate, and mild abdominal distention. Rectal examination revealed the leading edge of a small colon intussusception, and peritoneal fluid analysis indicated suppurative peritonitis. Surgical management, including reduction of the intussusception and small colon resection with end-to-end anastomosis, resulted in successful outcome (1-year follow-up evaluation). Postoperative complications including dehiscence of the ventral midline surgical incision and simple obstruction at the anastomosi...
Bone lesions caused by Pythium insidiosum in a horse. A 5-year-old, female saddle horse developed a tumoral mass anterolaterally on the metacarpal region of its right front leg. Histopathological study showed hyaline, aseptate, broad hyphae in the sequestered coral-like necrotic masses. Radiographs revealed an extensive osteomyelitis with disorganized bone proliferation of the metacarpal bones, as well as exostosis of the distal radius and the proximal and distal row of carpal bones. The etiologic agent was detected histologically, isolated in culture and identified as Pythium insidiosum. Serological tests were positive. Immunotherapy was applied...
Ultrasonographic studies on the reproductive tract of mares after parturition: effect of involution and uterine fluid on pregnancy rates in mares with normal and delayed first postpartum ovulatory cycles. During breeding of mares, ultrasonographic detection of uterine fluid accumulations in the first postpartum ovulatory period was associated with significantly decreased pregnancy rates, when compared with rates in control mares (P less than 0.005). The previously gravid uterine horn was recognized as the larger horn, when assessed for size by ultrasonography, for a mean of 21 days (range, 15 to 25 days) after parturition. On the basis of similar measurements obtained during 3 ultrasonographic scans (5-day period), uterine involution was determined to be completed in a mean of 23 days (range, 1...
Estrone sulfate concentrations as an indicator of fetal demise in horses. Serum and urinary estrone sulfate concentrations were determined in 7 pregnant mares before and after prostaglandin-induced abortion (n = 4) or surgical removal of the fetus (n = 3) to determine the source of estrogen during early pregnancy (gestation days [GD] 44 to 89). Estrone sulfate concentrations also were determined in serum samples (stored frozen for 2 years) from 3 mares that had been ovariectomized between GD 51 and 58. Estrone sulfate concentrations decreased in serum and urine after expulsion or removal of the fetus (urinary patterns were more definitive than were patterns for seru...
Immunoassay detection of drugs in racing horses. III. Detection of morphine in equine blood and urine by a one step ELISA assay. A one step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test for morphine was evaluated as part of a panel of pre- and post-race tests for narcotic analgesics in racing horses. This ELISA test is very sensitive to morphine with an I-50 for morphine of about 400 pg/ml. The test is also rapid, and ten samples, a normal pre-race complement, can be analyzed in about thirty minutes. The test can be read with an inexpensive spectrophotometer, or even by eye. The test readily detects the presence of morphine or its metabolites in equine blood for up to six hours after administration of sub-therapeutic d...
Use of stapling instruments to aid in the removal of ovarian tumours in mares. Ovarian granulosa theca cell tumours were removed surgically in 10 mares. Stapling instruments were used to facilitate haemostasis of the ovarian pedicle in five out of 10 cases and as a sole method of haemostasis in the remaining five cases. Postoperative haemorrhage from the ovarian pedicle was suspected in only one case. All cases survived long term follow-up from six months to four years. Results from this series of cases indicate that stapling instruments provide a rapid, easy and efficient means of ligating ovarian pedicles when performing ovariectomy in the mare.
Follicular growth and estradiol influence on luteal function in mares. Follicular growth, circulating estradiol concentrations and endometrial prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) production were measured to determine whether there is an interrelationship among these factors associated with luteolysis. Follicular growth was monitored by rectal palpation every other day during diestrus in 16 mares. Plasma estradiol was determined for daily samples during all estrous cycles. Endometrial tissue was removed for PGF2 alpha analysis by radioimmunoassay on d 10, 12, 14 or 16 during several normal cycles and after d 30 during spontaneously prolonged cycles. Circulating es...
Development of a scoring system for the early diagnosis of equine neonatal sepsis. A sepsis scoring system was developed and tested prospectively in a blind study of 190 neonatal foals admitted to the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. The system used 14 readily available historical, clinical or laboratory variables and weighted each item to arrive at a sepsis score. The score was found to have a sensitivity of 93 per cent, a specificity of 86 per cent, positive accuracy rate of 89 per cent and negative accuracy rate of 92 per cent. The sepsis score was far more sensitive and specific for infection, even in very early c...
The use of urea as a marker of body water in the nursing foal. Urea, compared with deuterium oxide (D2O) as a reference, was used as a body marker to estimate body water volume in ten 2-month old nursing foals. Plasma urea clearance was regular over 10 h and the R2 of the disappearance curve was between 0.93 and 0.98. Mean urea space was about 4% lower than D2O space, but the standard deviation of the proportion of water in body weight was higher with urea (3.8%) than with D2O (1.6%). Calculated urea entry rate was 49 mg/h/kg LW0.75.
Effect of sample freezing on the isolation of Mycoplasma spp. from the clitoral fossa of the mare. The growth of Mycoplasma equigenitalium and Mycoplasma subdolum from specimens collected from the clitoral fossa of each of four Standardbred mares was not diminished by freezing of the specimens in liquid nitrogen (-196 degrees C) for up to 30 days when compared to samples cultured immediately.
Osseous sequestration in the horse. A review of 68 cases. Sixty-eight cases of cortical bone sequestration in 67 equine patients were reviewed with regard to the clinical presentation, method of treatment, and outcome. All lesions were located in skeletal areas with minimal soft tissue coverage, with 53% of them in the metatarsal and metacarpal bones. At the time of admission, 60% of the patients with limb lesions were lame; the majority improved with therapy. After sequestrectomy, there was a trend for surgical wounds which could be managed by primary closure to heal more rapidly (3.8 weeks) than wounds which required second intention healing (6.4 w...
Novel alpha haemoglobin haplotypes in horses. Four minor haplotypes that produce abnormal haemoglobin phenotypes in horses have been characterized. Two of them, AIIb and V, are copy number variants with, respectively, one and three alpha genes instead of the normal complement of two. The AIIa and C haplotypes, on the other hand, each have two alpha genes but, as a result of probable gene conversions, they now encode identical, though haplotype specific, globins. Two out of 60 unrelated and phenotypically normal horses studied had an unusual triplicated rearrangement in the embryonic zeta-gene locus. Each of these variants appears to have ...
Purification of brush border membrane vesicles from horse kidney cortex using Percoll. A rapid method for preparation of brush border membrane vesicles from a large amount of horse kidney cortex is described. Self-orienting Percoll-gradient centrifugation minimized contamination by microsomal membranes. The characteristics of this preparation were checked by electron microscopy and measurement of L-alanine uptake.
[Infection with equine herpesvirus and its manifestation in the central nervous system of the horse]. Infections with EHV1 can lead to manifestation at the CNS of horses followed by encephalomyelitis and "equine stroke". Horse experiments could confirm the clinical picture and gave links to the potential pathogenesis of the disease. We also have been in the position to isolate and characterize an EHV4 virus out of the brain of a horse with CNS disorders. The two viruses carry different biological properties which obviously dominate the pathogenesis. These properties as well as experimental and field cases are described and different diagnostic tests are discussed.
Asinine herpesvirus genomes: comparison with those of the equine herpesviruses. Two previously unknown and distinct herpesviruses were isolated from donkeys. One, with the characteristics of a betaherpesvirus, was isolated from the leukocytes of an apparently healthy donkey, while the second, an alphaherpesvirus, was recovered from the nasal cavity of donkeys given high doses of corticosteroids, and caused rhinitis in two seronegative weanling donkeys when they were intranasally infected. Few, if any, restriction endonuclease fragments were shared by the donkey betaherpesvirus, equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV 2) or EHV 5, a second distinctly different equine betaherpesvirus, no...
O2 transport in the horse during rest and exercise. We studied mechanisms of O2 transport in 6 adult (2-5 year old) horses at rest and during steady-state exercise on a treadmill (0% slope) at 12 m/s (a submaximal gallop). Oxygen consumption was measured using an open-flow system. Arterial and mixed venous blood samples were simultaneously obtained for measurement of O2 content and hemoglobin concentration. VO2 increased from 1.5 +/- 0.2 L/min at rest to 46.2 +/- 4.8 L/min during exercise. HR increased from a resting value of 36.9 +/- 2.5 bpm to 196.5 +/- 10.9 bpm and the arterio-venous O2 content difference (a-v O2) increased from 4.2 +/- 0.8 ...
Uterine contractions in nonpregnant and early pregnant mares and jennies as determined by ultrasonography. Uterine contractions in 8 nonpregnant and 13 pregnant mares were studied using ultrasonography. A 1-min video tape recording was made of longitudinal real-time images of the uterine body. An overall uterine contractile activity score (0 = no or minimal activity to 4 = maximal activity) was assigned to each video tape segment. There was a day effect (P less than .01) and an interaction (P less than .01) of reproductive status X day. Uterine activity scores were highest on d 14 to d 18 (d 0 = day of ovulation) for nonpregnant mares and on d 10 to d 14 for pregnant mares. Uterine activity scores ...
The use of H(orse) INDEX: a method of analysing the ground reaction force patterns of lame and normal gaited horses at the walk. The amplitudes, impulses and times of occurrence of a number of selected peaks in the ground reaction force tracings of 17 horses with various clinical histories were compared with those of 20 horses used to establish values for the 'standard' Dutch Warmblood horse. The resulting factors were combined, using different weighting factors, into indices characterising each limb. The symmetry between the loading of the forelimbs and the hindlimbs was used to calculate amplitude and peak-time symmetry indices. Limb and symmetry indices were combined in one H(orse) INDEX. This method of quantifying t...
Serologic response of Babesia equi-infected horses as measured by complement-fixation and indirect fluorescent antibody tests. Both the complement-fixation test (CFT) and the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) were conducted on weekly serum samples from nine Arab geldings for 28 days before and 256 days after their exposure to Babesia equi of European origin. On an average the IFAT became positive 8 days before the CFT and showed higher relative serum titer increases. Both test procedures successfully detected infection and neither showed an appreciable drop in titer during this time frame, with the exception of the CFT, which showed a transient drop immediately following treatment with imidocarb. A test conduc...
Peritoneal fluid analysis in ponies after abdominal surgery. Ten student surgery ponies were subjected to exploratory laparotomy. Abdominal paracentesis was performed preoperatively and daily postoperatively for 6 days, then the ponies were euthanatized and necropsied. Initial baseline peritoneal fluid parameters were within established reference limits. Postoperatively, the total leukocyte count and total protein in the peritoneal fluid rose and remained elevated for the 6 days of the study. Complete blood counts (CBCs) were performed preoperatively and on days 1 and 4 postoperatively. On day 1, a stress leukogram with a mild inflammatory component dev...
[Iron and iron-binding capacity in the serum of clinically healthy horses]. Serum iron concentration and iron-binding capacity were determined in 34 respectively 35 clinically healthy horses of different sex, with the age of 3 to 21 years. In the Warm blooded horse, the Half bred, the Haflinger horse, the Heavy horse and the Arabian Haflinger the mean serum iron concentration amounted to 253 +/- 66 micrograms/dl, 202 +/- 87 micrograms/dl, 166 +/- 67 micrograms/dl, 183 micrograms/dl and 366 micrograms/dl, while the iron-binding capacity in the Warm blooded horse, the Half bred, the Haflinger horse, the Thoroughbred, the Heavy horse and the Arabian Haflinger ran up to 4...
Calibration of the mercury-in-silastic strain gauge in tendon load experiments. A calibration method is presented by which the signals of mercury-in-silastic strain gauges (MISS), implanted in the tendons of in vitro loaded equine hindlegs, were converted to tendon loads. The relationships between MISS-signals and tendon loads were obtained from tensile-force tests applied to the tendons. Special attention was paid to the correction of the MISS-signals for amplitude-shifts resulting from internal repositioning of the MISS after tendon isolation and temperature differences. Shift corrections equivalent to tendon strains up to 2.8% were necessary in the in vitro experiment....
Use of an immediate, qualitative progesterone assay for determination of day of ovulation in an equine embryo transfer program. An immediate, qualitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for progesterone was evaluated for use in determining the day of ovulation in an equine embryo transfer program. Plasma samples were collected from 27 mares from the third day of estrus to the second day of diestrus for 50 cycles. Ovulation was detected by ultrasound examination per rectum. Plasma progesterone concentrations were estimated using the qualitative assay to detect the time of the rise in progesterone after ovulation. Qualitative scores were compared to progesterone concentrations for the same samples as measured b...
[Indirect blood pressure determination in the horse with the Dinamap 1255 research monitor]. In 26 horses measurings of blood pressure, using the Dinamap 1255 research monitor, were performed and compared for accuracy with blood pressure values obtained by direct measurement in the arteria carotis. It was found that oscillometrically ascertained initial blood values in standing horses have a sufficient correlation to initial blood pressure values obtained by direct measurement. But every blood pressure change is registered too late, when using the oscillometric blood pressure apparatus. This temporal delay becomes unacceptable, when a considerable increase in blood pressure occurs. A ...
A critical assessment of pulmonary function testing in exercising ponies. Pulmonary function measurements during exercise were tested for accuracy and reproducibility in 5 saddle ponies weighing 267 +/- 9 Kg. Airflow (V) and tidal volume (VT) were measured with a Fleisch pneumotachograph mounted on a face mask. The linearity of the response and the symmetry of this device were carefully checked. Pleural pressure changes were measured by pleural puncture (Ppl) and with an esophageal balloon catheter (Pes). The elastance of the esophageal wall and the effect of the position of the esophageal catheter tip on Pes were also investigated. Airflow, VT, Ppl, Pes, mask press...
