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Topic:Mortality
Mortality in horses refers to the incidence and causes of death within equine populations. Understanding mortality is important for assessing health risks, improving management practices, and guiding veterinary care. Various factors contribute to mortality in horses, including age, breed, health status, and environmental conditions. Common causes of death in horses include colic, injury, infectious diseases, and age-related conditions. Mortality rates and patterns can vary significantly depending on the population and geographic location. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the epidemiology, causes, and trends of mortality in horses, providing insights into preventive measures and management strategies to reduce mortality rates.
Computed Tomographic Lesion Descriptors in Foals With Hematogenous Osteomyelitis: Interobserver Agreement and Association With Outcome. Computed tomography (CT) is increasingly used to diagnose osteomyelitis in foals, but the prognostic value and interobserver reproducibility of specific CT lesion descriptors remain unclear. This multicenter retrospective study aimed to characterize CT features of hematogenous osteomyelitis in foals using a structured radiologic feature set, assess interobserver agreement, and evaluate associations between CT descriptors and survival to hospital discharge and long-term survival. We hypothesized that CT features considered aggressive, including a long transition zone, permeative or moth-eaten o...
Intraoperative monitoring and anaesthetic complications in horses: A secondary analysis of the CEPEF4 multicentre cohort. CEPEF4 provides the most comprehensive contemporary dataset on perianaesthetic risk in horses. Intraoperative complications, monitoring and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)-stratified associations with death remain incompletely described. Objective: To describe monitoring and complication incidence, assess associations with ASA physical status, and compare ASA-stratified mortality by complication status. Methods: Secondary analysis of a prospective, multicentre cohort study. Methods: Data from 47,371 equine general anaesthetics were analysed. Monitoring was described overall and by ...
A retrospective study of catastrophic pelvic fractures in California Thoroughbred racehorses. Here, we describe and characterize catastrophic pelvic fractures in Thoroughbred racehorses in California. We reviewed retrospectively racehorse autopsy reports from horses that died spontaneously or were euthanized because of complete pelvic fractures in California between 1992 and 2018. The exercise history of affected horses was compared with eventmatched control horses. Catastrophic pelvic fractures were sustained by 133 horses. Pelvic fractures were 2.7% of all musculoskeletal fatalities. Pelvic fractures occurred during training (48.0%), racing (35.0%), and non-exercise (17.0%). Horses â...
Failure of Passive Transfer in neonatal foals – a review. Failure of passive transfer (FPT) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in neonatal foals worldwide. Adequate ingestion and intestinal absorption of colostral immunoglobulin G (IgG) during the first hours of life are essential to ensure protection against early-life infections, such as diarrhoea and pneumonia, frequently with fatal outcome. This review summarizes current knowledge on the physiology of passive immunization, risk factors for inadequate IgG absorption, diagnostic methods, therapeutic strategies, and evidence-based preventive measures. Recent research highlights the im...
Favorable survival of horses with guttural pouch mycosis following hospital-based treatment. To report the clinical outcomes and survival time in horses undergoing treatment of guttural pouch mycosis. Unassigned: Client-owned horses with guttural pouch mycosis admitted between 2005 and 2024 for evaluation and treatment were identified by medical record search. Signalment, disease history, and surgical and treatment details were recorded. Owners were contacted for follow-up information. Unassigned: 41 horses with guttural pouch mycosis were identified, of which 28 had epistaxis or a history of epistaxis on presentation. Thirty-five horses underwent surgical treatment, and the procedure...
Evaluation of the Brix refractometer for diagnosing the failure of transfer of passive immunity in 12-h-old foals. Failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) is the most important cause of sepsis and mortality in neonatal foals. Unassigned: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the digital Brix refractometer for the diagnosis of FTPI in 12-h-old foals. Unassigned: Cross-sectional, diagnostic accuracy study. Unassigned: Jugular blood samples were collected from 124 foals at 12 ± 0.5 h after birth. IgG concentrations were estimated using a digital Brix refractometer and measured using the radial immunodiffusion test (RID). Correlation coefficients were calculated between serum Brix percentages...
Hoist failure during recovery transfer in an anaesthetised horse: a near miss analysed through a Safety-II lens. A 660 kg, 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding underwent general anaesthesia for an out-of-hours emergency exploratory laparotomy. After approximately 5 hours of anaesthesia, transfer to the recovery box began, using a ceiling-mounted hoist. As the horse crossed the theatre-recovery interface, the hoist failed due to mechanical disengagement. This resulted in loss of electrical power, leaving the anaesthetised horse suspended approximately 150 cm above the floor for approximately 10 minutes. The horse could not be advanced, reversed, or lowered using standard controls. Activity was paused, an...
Case report: exercise-associated sudden death in a Thoroughbred racehorse with cardiac lesions. Exercise-associated sudden death (EASD), defined as acute collapse and death in an apparently healthy racehorse during or within ~1Â h after exercise, is currently among the top concerns in the racing industry. Cases of EASD with no cause of death identified at necropsy are frequently presumed to be of cardiac origin. In such cases, in addition to a regular necropsy, a cardiac examination protocol is performed that includes a detailed gross examination and microscopic evaluation of 11 regions of the heart. Very often this protocol is unrewarding because there are no microscopic lesions to expl...
Fatalities within seven days after equine standing sedation: A prospective, multicentre study. Information regarding mortality associated with standing procedures in horses is sparse. Objective: To report data from >12,000 standing sedations. Methods: Confidential, observational, prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Methods: We collected records of horses/ponies undergoing standing sedation for surgery or advanced diagnostic imaging using at least one top-up or controlled rate infusion (CRI). Procedures were either NON-COLIC or COLIC. Outcome at seven days was recorded as (i) ALIVE, (ii) EUTHANASIA or (iii) DEAD. Data were collected with a portable document format (PDF) questionn...
Retrospective study of blood culture isolates, antimicrobial sensitivity, and survival factors from 243 neonatal foals in Normandy (France). Identifying causative bacterial species in neonatal foal bacteremia and their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles is essential for guiding appropriate antibiotic therapy. Objective: To describe bacterial isolates from blood culture and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in neonatal foals from two French institutes, and to assess associations between pretreatment and blood culture positivity, and between in-hospital death (euthanasia or natural death) and the presence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Methods: Two hundred forty-three foals (<7Â days old) admitted to two equin...
Evaluation of oxidative stress in ill neonatal foals: a preliminary study. Oxidative stress both contributes to and results from sepsis pathophysiology, but its role in ill foals remains poorly characterized. Objective: Ill foals will exhibit decreased antioxidant defense activity and increased oxidative products compared with healthy foals, and these changes will be associated with higher sepsis scores, lower survival scores, and non-survival. Methods: Twenty-six foals < 14 days old: 16 hospitalized foals (11 sick non-septic, 5 septic; median age, 1.5 days; range 1-13) and 10 healthy Standardbred foals (2 days old). Nine of 16 ill foals survived to discharge...
A retrospective study of morbidity and mortality in captive Przewalski’s horses (Equus przewalskii) between 1973 and 2021. Przewalski's horses (Equus przewalskii) were declared extinct in the wild in 1996, but reintroduction programmes initiated in 1997 have enabled the re-establishment of free-ranging populations. The maintenance of healthy captive populations remains essential to support these conservation efforts, yet systematic pathological investigations in captive Przewalski's horses are lacking. This study provides the first necropsy-based overview of morbidity and mortality in a captive European population. Pathology reports from 64 horses examined between 1973 and 2021 were reviewed retrospectively. Acros...
Comparative cardiac histopathology and toxicology screens in horses succumbing to exercise-associated sudden cardiac death and control horses. Horse racing has faced increased scrutiny because of concerns about equine welfare and the safety of both equine and human participants. Sudden death (SD) in racehorses is relatively uncommon, and its causes are still unclear. Little information and considerable confusion exist regarding the clinical significance of microscopic lesions in the hearts of horses with SD. We examined the hearts of 29 horses that suffered exercise-associated sudden cardiac death (EASCD) and 29 clinically healthy control horses that were euthanized because of catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries. Acute cardiomyocyt...
Evaluation of systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria in horses with colic associated with acute gastrointestinal disease. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a severe clinical condition commonly observed in horses with acute gastrointestinal disease associated with colic and is linked to increased risk of organ dysfunction and mortality. Early identification of SIRS and reliable prognostic indicators are essential to improve clinical management. This study aimed to assess the occurrence of SIRS in adult horses with colic, evaluate its association with outcome, and investigate the prognostic value of selected clinicopathological variables. Unassigned: A total of 41 adult horses admitted for acute gas...
Development of a prognostic scoring system for systemic inflammatory response syndrome in donkeys. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is associated with increased mortality in horses with gastrointestinal (GI) disease. However, there are no data relating to naturally occurring SIRS in donkeys. Objective: To determine SIRS frequency in donkeys with GI disease. To develop a donkey-specific prognostic SIRS score. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Clinical records from donkeys presenting with GI disease in two independent cohorts (development cohort: n = 400, UK; validation cohort: n = 36, Australia) were reviewed. Age, sex, heart rate, respiratory rate, rectal te...
Pathology of sudden death in racehorses: a review. Sudden death (SD) is the second most important syndrome associated with death in racehorses. The cause of SD in a large number of horses remains undetermined, and, in many of these cases, causes are not found by gross or microscopic postmortem examinations. Among the known causes of SD are traumatic injuries, including fractures of skull, neck, and pelvis; intoxications (e.g., anticoagulant rodenticides); and others. For many cases of SD in which no significant lesions are found, heart failure, probably associated with arrhythmias, is suspected. Precise phenotypic characterization of SD in hor...
Equine-related injuries in rural Oklahoma: a 10-year experience emphasizing genitourinary trauma. Equine-related injuries are a significant yet under-researched cause of trauma in rural areas, particularly in high-equine-density states like Oklahoma. This study describes patterns, severity, and outcomes of equine-related injuries over a 10-year period at a Level II trauma center, with emphasis on genitourinary (GU) trauma. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all patients admitted with equine-related injuries from May 2015 to December 2025 (n = 259). Data were abstracted from the trauma registry, including demographics, injury mechanisms, anatomic locations (with GU injuri...
A 12-year review of equestrian related injuries at a major trauma centre in South Africa. Few studies on equestrian-related injuries have specifically focused on patients in South Africa. The aim of this study was to review the spectrum of injuries and of patients treated at state-funded trauma centres in South Africa. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted over a 12-year period from July 2012 to February 2025 on all patients treated for equestrian-related injuries. Results: A total of 82 patients were included (83% male, median age: 17 years, median injury severity score (ISS): 9). The most common mechanism of injury was a fall ( = 41), followed by a kick ( = 38). Two were t...
Venous blood lactate concentration as a predictor of intestinal viability in horses with acquired indirect inguinal hernia. Background: Acquired indirect inguinal hernia represents a life-threatening emergency. Therapeutic decision-making largely depends on intestinal viability, for which specific predictive parameters (such as venous lactate) have not been evaluated.Objectives: Investigating the predictive performance of venous blood lactate and other laboratory results on intestinal viability in horses with acquired indirect inguinal hernias.Study designRetrospective multicentre observational study.Methods: Seventy-four horses diagnosed with acquired indirect inguinal hernia (treated surgically) at two referral h...
Unusual, fatal neck cancer in a foal: immunohistological investigations and differential diagnosis. Neck masses may represent a diagnostic challenge for equine veterinarians, since they may involve different structures with a similar clinical appearance. Whereas neck masses in foals mostly result from non-neoplastic conditions, including various congenital abnormalities, neoplastic cervical masses have been rarely documented. This report describes the unusual case of a rapidly growing neck cancer in a four-month-old colt, resulting in a fatal outcome. Gross and immunohistological findings were most consistent with a poorly differentiated thymic carcinoma with sarcomatoid features and multifo...
The incidence of fatal and non-fatal injury in thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racehorses in Louisiana (2014-2022). The objectives of the study were to report the incidence of race-related injuries and equine fatalities in racehorses at the Louisiana racetracks from 2014 to 2022 for both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racehorses. Additionally, this study evaluated several factors that may be related to the occurrence of race-related injuries in racehorses in Louisiana. The average rates of equine fatal injuries (euthanized on or off track within 72 h of the race) were 1.70 ± 0.76 and 1.94 ± 0.89 per 1000 starts in Thoroughbred and Quarter racehorses, respectively. The average rates of non-fatal injur...
Exercising electrocardiograms from Thoroughbred racehorses with exercise associated sudden death. Exercise associated sudden death (EASD), defined as a fatal collapse in a closely monitored and previously presumed clinically healthy horse that occurs during exercise or within approximately 1 h after exercise, is disproportionately more common in equine than in human athletes. Objective: To describe ECGs from EASD cases in Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: An international call for potential cases was made through direct contact with relevant racing authorities requesting that trainers of horses which had experienced EASD consent to researchers gaining ac...
Abdominal palpation per rectum is highly sensitive for identifying small versus large intestinal lesions in horses presenting for colic. To describe the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and accuracy of abdominal palpation per rectum in horses treated surgically for colic. Unassigned: Medical records were gathered over 5 years (2019 to 2024). Findings of abdominal palpation per rectum were collected and compared to surgical diagnosis, and cases were categorized as true or false positive and negative. Signalment, physical examination parameters, hematologic values, and years of examiner experience were recorded. Unassigned: Records of 453 horses were included. Overall sensitivity and positive predictive value were 86%...
Multi-state equine botulism outbreak in the United States linked to contaminated feed: an epidemiologic, clinicopathologic, and regulatory investigation. A multi-state outbreak of equine botulism occurred between December 2022 and March 2023 in the United States. Follow-up and testing were performed on 42 horses, including 24 that died or were euthanized in the outbreak that affected ~98 horses. Affected horses had all been exposed to the same commercial feed. Clinical signs included progressive muscle weakness and tremors, recumbency, and colic. No significant gross or microscopic abnormalities were observed on autopsy. Feces and gastrointestinal content were tested for various infectious agents, including botulinum toxin; fecal samples from 2...
Preoperative risk assessment in horses: agreement and predictive value of CHARIOT (Combined Horse Anaesthetic Risk Identification and Optimisation Tool). To assess interobserver agreement and predictive value of the Combined Horse Anaesthetic Risk Identification and Optimisation Tool (CHARIOT) compared with the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification system among five groups of evaluators with different levels of expertise, and to explore the association between risk scores and 7-day postoperative mortality. Methods: Prospective, observational, single-centre pilot study. Methods: A group of 50 client-owned horses. Methods: Each horse was assessed (ASA-PS and CHARIOT) before general anaesthesia by one evalua...
Sequential measurement of serum amyloid A concentrations in ill hospitalized neonatal foals. In hospitalized foals, limited data are available on the utility of sequential measurement of SAA concentrations and the value of these data in a clinical setting. Objective: To determine serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations in ill neonatal foals at multiple timepoints during hospitalization, and to evaluate a potential association with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) status, blood culture (BC) result, and survival. Methods: Hospitalized ill foals (n = 90, ≤ 14 days). Methods: In this retrospective study, foals were classified based on SIRS criteria: "SIRS" or "NonSIRS," ...
Evaluation of oxidative stress and antioxidant defense biomarkers in healthy and colic horses: correlation with type of colic and outcome. Colic is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in horses, with oxidative stress implicated in its pathophysiology. Objective: Evaluate biomarkers (BIOs) of oxidative stress and antioxidant defense in healthy horses and those with non-strangulating colic (NSC) and strangulating colic (SC) and assess correlations with survival. Methods: Seventy-one adult horses: 10 healthy and 61 colic-affected (42 NSC, 19 SC) admitted to 3 veterinary teaching hospitals. Methods: Prospective, multicenter cohort study. Blood samples were collected at admission (T0) and up to 96Â h post-admission. Biomarkers me...
More conservative use of antimicrobials does not adversely affect treatment outcomes in foal bronchopneumonia. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance raises concerns about using antibiotics in veterinary medicine, particularly in cases of bronchopneumonia in foals diagnosed early based on a screening programme. Many subclinical foals recover spontaneously, thus, interest in more restrictive antibiotic usage is increasing. Objective: To determine whether initiating antimicrobial therapy at a later stage of bronchopneumonia decreases antimicrobial usage without compromising successful resolution of pathology in affected foals. Methods: A total of 1200 warmblood foals born in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 ...
Characterisation of Salmonella Typhimurium from a fatal equine nosocomial outbreak and retrospective analysis of equine clinic salmonellosis cases (2010-2025). In 2024, a highly fatal outbreak of equine salmonellosis occurred in a Hungarian equine referral hospital, resulting in the death or euthanasia of four out of five affected horses. () subsp. serovar Typhimurium was identified as the primary causative agent from equine faecal, reflux, and post-mortem intestinal content samples, while one case involved Coeln. Extensive environmental sampling during the outbreak also yielded multiple serovars. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a high degree of genetic relatedness among the Typhimurium isolates, confirming nosocomial transmission. The source ...
