Equine diseases encompass a wide range of health conditions that can affect horses, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and genetic conditions. These diseases can impact the overall health, performance, and well-being of horses. Common equine diseases include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, laminitis, and equine metabolic syndrome. Diagnosis and management of these diseases often require a combination of clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and appropriate treatment strategies. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment options for various equine diseases, providing valuable insights for veterinarians and researchers in the field.
Baker GJ, Moustafa MA, Boero MJ, Foreman JH, Wilson DA.The caudal cruciate ligament assists the medial femorotibial ligament in supporting the medial aspect of the femorotibial joint. It also limits the outward rotation of the tibia during weight bearing. In two lame horses tearing of the caudal portion of the femoral attachment of the caudal cruciate ligament was recorded together with cracking and tearing of the medial meniscus. In one case, synovitis and restrictive fibrous periarthritis were the sequelae of secondary stifle sepsis.
Clark ES, Reef VB, Sweeney CR, Lichtensteiger C.Aortic insufficiency was suspected in a thin 1-year-old colt with a grade IV/V decrescendo holodiastolic murmur and a bounding arterial pulse. Echocardiographic findings (diastolic fluttering of the septal leaflet of the mitral valve, left ventricular volume overload, and incomplete aortic valve closure) were diagnostic for aortic valve insufficiency. Moderately thick fibrotic aortic valve leaflets were found at necropsy. Fenestrations were found in the aortic and pulmonic valve cusps. Congenital valvular disease may have led to aortic valvular insufficiency in this horse.
Perdrizet JA, Callihan DR, Rebhun WC, Shin SJ.The clinical course and successful therapeutic management of a horse with malignant edema caused by Clostridium septicum is described. This is believed to be the first report of a horse surviving malignant edema caused by C. septicum. A discussion of this disease syndrome, including etiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs, therapy, and diagnostic methods is presented.
Rice DA, Rice JC.The time it takes audible sound to travel from the trachea to the pleura in five intact, excised horse lungs and one dog lung inflated with several gases was measured. Regression estimates of sound speed at total lung capacity (TLC) using straight line distance from the carina to the pleura are: helium, 775 +/- 60.5 m/s (means +/- 95% confidence limits); air, 282 +/- 23.5; carbon dioxide, 219 +/- 25.5; sulfur hexafluoride, 142 +/- 43.5. With the exception of sulfur hexafluoride, these speeds are 15%-20% less than the free-field speed of sound in each gas. Total airway length did not predict ti...
Johnston JK, Morris DD.Sixty-eight horses with colic caused by small intestinal disease were allotted into 2 groups of 34 on the basis of recorded findings during exploratory celiotomy, necropsy, or response to medical treatment alone. Signalment, history, physical examination findings, and laboratory findings were compared between the group of horses with small intestinal obstruction and the group with duodenitis/proximal jejunitis. A significantly greater proportion of horses with duodenitis/proximal jejunitis were older than 2 years old (P less than 0.05). Differences in sex or breed distribution, or in seasonali...
Morris DD, Whitlock RH.Equine antiserum to core lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was evaluated in a double-blind prospective study for therapeutic benefit in suspected septicemia in neonatal foals. Forty foals younger than 7 days of age were included in the study by satisfaction of clinical and laboratory criteria, suggestive of gram-negative septicemia. Twenty-two foals were treated with core LPS antiserum (plasma produced from horses which were hyperimmunized with rough gram-negative mutant bacterin) and 18 foals received "nonimmune" plasma (from horses prior to immunization against core LPS). All foals received antimicro...
Slocombe JO, Valenzuela J, Lake MC.The transmission of strongyles among 54 Shetland-cross mature ponies was examined from May 30 to November 22, 1983 when the ponies were on pasture and over the ensuing winter when they were in loose housing. Fecal and pasture herbage samples were taken fortnightly through the pasture season and periodically thereafter. Three foals born and reared on pasture were weaned and removed from pasture, two in early August and one in mid-September, and housed for a period before necropsy. Daily maximum and minimum air temperature and total precipitation were recorded. The mean fecal strongyle egg count...
Taylor TS, Watkins JP, Schumacher J.A temporary indwelling liner was surgically installed in 17 horses with grade III or grade IV rectal tears. The rectal tears of 9 of the horses healed. The remaining 8 horses developed peritonitis as a result of peritoneal contamination before surgery, a change in grade of the tear, or material failure.
Abid HN, Walter PA, Litchfield H.A 6-year-old Quarter Horse gelding was examined because it had a sharply circumscribed, firm, brown-black, roughly spherical dermal nodule at the right tuber ischii. After it was excised, the lesion did not recur. Microscopically, the dermis of the excised specimen had multiple pyogranulomas, many of which contained thick-walled, dark brown fungal elements, some with internal septation compatible with chromomycotic fungi. Chromomycosis is a rare skin disease in the horse. It may be included in the differential diagnoses of nodular and/or pigmented skin lesions that include melanoma, pyogranulo...
Memon MA, McClure JJ, Usenik EA.An 8-year-old Quarter Horse stallion was admitted with a swelling involving the prepuce, dorsal part of the scrotum, and root of the penis. The swelling was first noticed 10 days after breeding, with no evidence that it had resulted from a kick by the mare. The penis was retracted into the prepuce, except for a 10- to 15-cm protrusion of the glans penis. Treatment included warm hydrotherapy, massage, stockinette compression, antidiuretics, antibiotics, penile support, and exercise, without success. At necropsy, a massive preputial hematoma was found extending forward from the root of the penis...
Moustafa MA, Boero MJ, Baker GJ.A technique for satisfactory arthroscopic examination of the lateral and medial femorotibial joints of the horse is described. The entry portal is made between the middle and medial patellar ligaments with the horse on its back and the stifle flexed. This position allows easy access to view the intercondylar eminence of the tibia. From this reference point, examination of all but the most caudal and medial structures of the joints are possible by manipulating the sleeve and telescope and maintaining joint distention. In a series of 20 examinations, iatrogenic trauma was recognized only once.
Rigg DL, Reinertson EL, Buttrick ML.Splenectomy was performed electively on 80 ponies, horses, and donkeys for preparation in collecting Babesia antigens. Access to the abdomen was by resection of the sixteenth left rib and incision of the diaphragm. The technique afforded good exposure of the splenic vessels and attachments. Closure was facilitated by preservation of the periosteum of the resected rib. Difficulty was encountered both in surgical technique and postoperative complications in obese animals. The transthoracic approach was found to be a useful technique for equine splenectomy.
Hoffmann WE, Baker G, Rieser S, Dorner JL.Effects of induced cholestasis and hepatocellular necrosis and of fasting on serum biochemical constituents including bile acids, IgA, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), arginase, and the clearance of sodium sulfobromophthalein were studied in 4 groups of equids. The reference value for serum bile acids, as determined by an enzymatic colorimetric procedure for horses and ponies was 5.94 +/- 2.72 mumol/L, there being no statistical difference for horses and ponies. Sample collection at time of feeding had no effect on serum bile acid concentration. Seemingly, seru...
Matthews SM, Joysey VC.Fifteen equine leucocyte antigens were defined by absorption and titration analysis of alloantisera obtained by natural sensitisation through pregnancy and by planned experimental immunisation. Definitive sera were tested on the cells of 90 unrelated horses and members of eight equine families. The family data suggested that 13 specificities were coded by a single locus (first locus) and one specificity (Eq 14) was coded by a second linked locus. The remaining specificity (Eq 7) was controlled by a third locus unlinked to the first or second loci. Tests on the cells of unrelated horses showed ...
Bertone JJ, Traub-Dargatz JL, Fettman MJ, Wilke L, Wrigley RH, Jaenke R, Paulsen ME.Sequential reciprocals of serum creatinine concentration and sodium sulfanilate clearance half-times were used to monitor a horse with chronic renal failure. The horse was diagnosed as having polycystic kidney disease; at least one cyst was of distal tubular origin. Using the plots of the sequential data, a reasonably accurate prediction was made for complete renal decompensation to develop.
Varner DD, Ward CR, Storey BT, Kenney RM.Equine spermatozoa were incubated in a chemically defined medium for 8 hours. The medium preserved spermatozoal viability, as assessed by total spermatozoal motility, progressive spermatozoal motility, and spermatozoal exclusion of eosin stain. Effects of time and divalent cation ionophore, A23187, on the occurrence and character of the spermatozoal acrosome reaction were determined. Two light microscopic assays, a triple-stain technique and a chlortetracycline fluorescence assay, were calibrated with transmission electron microscopy for detection of the acrosome reaction. Incubation time and ...
Watts EJ, Rose MT.Wounds on the limbs of horses are notoriously difficult to heal, with over production of TGFβ1 thought to be responsible for excessive scarring; in contrast, wounds in the oral cavity heal rapidly with minimal scarring. This experiment aimed to determine the effect of TGFβ1 on the production of mRNA and proteins for various extracellular matrix components by two equine fibroblast cell lines isolated from the oral mucosa and distal limb. Fibronectin mRNA was up-regulated by TGFβ1 in the limb but not the oral cells. TGFβ1 increased the ratio of mRNA for collagen types I-III for the oral cell...
Shoemaker RW, Wilson DG, Fretz PB.To describe and evaluate a technique involving a dorsal approach for the removal of the nasal septum in adult horses. Methods: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Four client-owned horses. Methods: Access for partial nasal septum resection was through a dorsal nasal bone flap. Septum resection was performed because of reduced airflow from septal deviation and/or thickening caused by traumatic insult or neoplasia. Preoperative clinical signs and diagnostic results were recorded. Intra- and postoperative complications were noted and follow-up information was obtained from telephone interviews...