Disease diagnosis in horses involves the identification and characterization of illnesses through various diagnostic methods and tools. This process is essential for effective veterinary care and management of equine health. Techniques used in diagnosing diseases in horses include clinical examinations, laboratory tests, imaging modalities such as ultrasonography and radiography, and molecular diagnostics. Blood tests are frequently utilized to assess parameters such as complete blood count and biochemical profiles, which can indicate underlying health issues. Additionally, advancements in genetic testing and biomarker identification have enhanced the ability to detect specific diseases early. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore diagnostic methodologies, their applications, and their impact on equine health management.
Campbell MD, Bellamy JE, Searcy GP.The microhematocrit heat-precipitation methods of Millar et al (1971) and Schalm et al (1975) were compared with the reference clottable protein method of Ratnoff and Menzie (1951) in the measurement of plasma fibrinogen concentration in horses. The millar et al method was more precise and accurate and showed better positive correlation with the reference method than did the Schalm et al method. There was no significant difference in the plasma fibrinogen concentration between healthy Thoroughbreds and healthy horses of other breeds. Horses with bacterial pneumonia and abscesses had significan...
Kuiper R, Franken P.The course run by the disease is described in a horse which showed the symptom complex of colitis X following treatment with oxytetracycline. Disseminated intravascular coagulation was also observed in this horse. The possibility of disseminated intravascular coagulation being part of colitis X is discussed.
Wensing T.The changes in the activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) in de blood of thirty-three horses with 'tying up' were compared. The extent to which the serum enzymes LDH, CPK and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and the changes in the activities of these enzymes after suitable labour can be used in the diagnosis of 'tying up' and in following the recovery of patients was studied.
Littlejohn A, Bowles F.The intrathoracic pressure was determined by direct intrapleural cannulation in 17 clinically normal horses and 14 horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There were significant differences between the normal and COPD horses with regard to max. Ppl and max. delta Ppl. The mean values for minimum Ppl of the 2 groups of subjects were not significantly different. The results were discussed in relation to those of other workers.
Stowe HD.Thirty-four adult ponies were used to determine the effects of single oral doses of copper (Cu) supplements (0, 20, and 40 mg of Cu/kg of body weight) on the toxicity of oral doses of selenium (Se) supplements (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 mg of Se/kg of body weight) administered 24 hours after the copper was given. Signs of Se toxicosis-sweating, diarrhea, tachycardia, tachypnea, mild pyrexia, lethargy, and colic-developed in ponies given 6 and 8 mg of Se/kg of body weight without Cu pretreatment. Two of 4 ponies given 6 mg of Se/kg and both ponies given 8 mg of Se/kg without Cu pretreatment died within...
Scott EA, Byars TD, Lamar AM.The hematologic and clinical effects of anticoagulation with warfarin were documented in 4 horses. All of the animals had thrombophlebitis (external jugular vein). Measures of coagulation were monitored, with a prothrombin time of 1.5 to 2.5 x base-line value being used as the effective range of anticoagulation. Recanalization was achieved in 2 of 4 cases. Hemorrhage, both subcutaneous and through a surgical incision, was a complication. Vitamin K1, an antidote to warfarin toxicosis, was administered intravenously to reverse anticoagulation and to control hemorrhage.
Irwin DH, Howell DW.The clinical and laboratory findings of illness in a 2-year-old Thoroughbred filly are described. The treatment employed, including unilateral nephrectomy, and the macro- and microscopic findings in the diseases kidney are presented and this rare case is discussed briefly.
Bisgard GE, Forster HV, Klein JP.Resting ventilation (PaCO2) and ventilatory responses to acute hypoxia and to intravenous NaCN were assessed over a 4-yr period following cutting of the carotid sinus nerves and stripping the adventitia of the aortic arch. The data indicated essentially complete loss of peripheral chemoreceptor function immediately after surgery and hypoventilation during normoxia (delta PaCO2 = +8.7 Torr). There was a time-dependent, partial recovery of peripheral chemoreceptor function between 2 and 22 mo after surgery. Approximately 10% of the ventilatory response to iv NaCN returned, and 30-40% of the norm...
Slauson DO, Hahn FF.Advances in the understanding of human respiratory disease can come from careful clinical studies of the diseases as they occur in man, but such studies are naturally limited in terms of experimental manipulation. In the last 2 decades, an increasingly complex plethora of experimental respiratory disease models has been developed and utilized by investigators, but relatively less attention has been paid to the naturally occurring pulmonary diseases of animals as potential models. This paper is aimed at presenting selected examples of spontaneous pulmonary disease in animals that may serve as e...
Prescott JF, Ogilvie TH, Markham RJ.A lymphocyte stimulation test using antigens of Corynebacterium equi was used to compare the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes from foals with C equi pneumonia with those of clinically normal foals and adult horses. The test clearly distinguished infected foals from normal foals when tested in animals less than or equal to 2 months old. After the 2nd month, stimulation response from individual normal foals sometimes exceed those from infected foals, but mean stimulation response to C equi antigens was significantly (P less than 0.025) greater in 3- to 5-month-old infected foals when com...
Dabernat HJ, Delmas CF, Tainturier DJ, Lareng MB.The in vitro susceptibility of recent clinical isolates of Haemophilus equigenitalis to various antimicrobial agents was determined by the disk diffusion test and the World Health Organization-International Collaborative Study agar dilution procedure. Ampicillin and tetracycline were the most active drugs. All strains were susceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin (Furadantin), and bacitracin. All but two strains were resistant to streptomycin, whereas all strains were susceptible to the other aminocyclitol antibodies...
Turner TA, Fessler JF.Eleven horses with rectal prolapses were examined at Purdue University. Nine of the 11 prolapses were corrected by submucosal resection. Four of those were treated by a modified submucosal resection that apposes mucosa as well as submucosa. Follow-up of 8 cases, at intervals ranging from 4 months to 6 years, established that rectal prolapse did not recur following the resection.
Taylor TS, Vaughan JT.A study was conducted in an effort to explain why digital necrosis sometimes follows neurectomy in the horse. Six horses were subjected to unilateral section of the medial and lateral palmar nerves. Arteriography was done on each digit prior to surgery. Terminally, arteriography was repeated. Sections of bone, nerve, artery, skin, coronary band, and deep flexor tendon were examined histologically. Changes in arterial pattern and bone quality were noted. During the study, 2 of the horses had clinical signs of digital necrosis. The composite findings suggested trauma or infection, or both, of th...
Iglesias-García M, Roquet I, Jiménez J, Martín-Cuervo M, Fuentes-Romero B, Ezquerra-Calvo LJ.To describe the history, clinical signs, and management of six horses in which subtendinous bursitis of the long digital extensor tendon (LDET) in the hind limb fetlock had been diagnosed. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Six privately owned horses. Methods: The medical records of horses presented at the hospital with similar sypmtoms were evaluated and collected. Finally 6 horses met the inclusion criteria and the relevant data were compiled and analysed. In three of the six cases a surgical treatment was carried out. Results: All horses had similar clinical signs, mainly distenti...
Treupel E, Czerwonka N, Schröder S, Böhm J, Wehrend A.Retained fetal membranes in mares is a relative frequent disease which can lead to severe complications. Two case studies are described in which mares died acutely despite intensive care. Pathological examination confirmed severe hemorrhage as the cause of death in both animals.
Kovár J.Single biochemical analyses can be used for the diagnosis of animal diseases only with the knowledge of the effects that may distort the single result. The study of the repeatability of analyses is described in the four basic enzymes (AST, ALP, GMT, LD), which are most frequently used for diagnosis. The experiment was conducted in a group of ten Kladrub mares. Six blood samples were taken from each of the mares within ten days. The measured values were subjected to statistical processing and repeatability coefficients (r op) were calculated. All the r op values were high (ALP--0.96, LD--0.93, ...
Palmisano M, Bender S, Johnson AL.We describe the unique clinical presentation of a central nervous system neoplasm in a 6-month-old draft horse cross gelding. Based on the neurologic examination at admission, neurolocalization was most consistent with a mildly asymmetric cervical, multifocal, or diffuse myelopathy. Mild vestibular involvement also was considered, but no cranial nerve deficits were observed. The gelding was negative for Sarcocystis neurona or Neospora hughesi based on paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples analyzed, with no evidence of cervical compression based on contrast myelography. The horse w...