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Journal of veterinary internal medicine2024; doi: 10.1111/jvim.16980

Breath characteristics and adventitious lung sounds in healthy and asthmatic horses.

Abstract: Standard thoracic auscultation suffers from limitations, and no systematic analysis of breath sounds in asthmatic horses exists. Objective: First, characterize breath sounds in horses recorded using a novel digital auscultation device (DAD). Second, use DAD to compare breath variables and occurrence of adventitious sounds in healthy and asthmatic horses. Methods: Twelve healthy control horses (ctl), 12 horses with mild to moderate asthma (mEA), 10 horses with severe asthma (sEA) (5 in remission [sEA-], and 5 in exacerbation [sEA+]). Methods: Prospective multicenter case-control study. Horses were categorized based on the horse owner-assessed respiratory signs index. Each horse was digitally auscultated in 11 locations simultaneously for 1 hour. One-hundred breaths per recording were randomly selected, blindly categorized, and statistically analyzed. Results: Digital auscultation allowed breath sound characterization and scoring in horses. Wheezes, crackles, rattles, and breath intensity were significantly more frequent, higher (P < .001, P < .01, P = .01, P < .01, respectively) in sEA+ (68.6%, 66.1%, 17.7%, 97.9%, respectively), but not in sEA- (0%, 0.7%, 1.3%, 5.6%) or mEA (0%, 1.0%, 2.4%, 1.7%) horses, compared to ctl (0%, 0.6%, 1.8%, -9.4%, respectively). Regression analysis suggested breath duration and intensity as explanatory variables for groups, wheezes for tracheal mucus score, and breath intensity and wheezes for the 23-point weighted clinical score (WCS23). Conclusions: The DAD permitted characterization and quantification of breath variables, which demonstrated increased adventitious sounds in sEA+. Analysis of a larger sample is needed to determine differences among ctl, mEA, and sEA- horses.
© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
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Publication Date: 2024-01-08 PubMed ID: 38192117DOI: 10.1111/jvim.16980Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research studies the characteristics of breath sounds and the occurrence of abnormal or auxiliary sounds in both healthy and asthmatic horses. A digital auscultation device was used for the purpose, and the study found significantly more abnormal breath sounds in horses with severe asthma than in healthy or mildly asthmatic horses.

Research Objective

The aim of the research was two-pronged:

  • Firstly to study and categorize the characteristics of breath sounds in horses using a novel digital device for auscultation (DAD).
  • And secondly, to compare the breath sound variables and the occurrence of additional or adventitious sounds in healthy and asthmatic horses.

Methods

The study was a prospective multicenter case-control study involving:

  • Twelve healthy horses (referred to as “ctl”),
  • Twelve horses with mild to moderate asthma (mEA),
  • And ten horses with severe asthma (sEA). The sEA group was further divided into five horses whose asthma was inactive or in remission (sEA-) and five horses who were experiencing an asthma attack or exacerbation (sEA+).

To facilitate comparisons in the study, horses were categorized based on an index of respiratory signs assessed by the horse owner. A digital auscultation device was used to listen to the horses’ breathing at 11 different locations simultaneously for a duration of 1 hour. To keep the data manageable and random, 100 breaths per recording were selected, categorized without prior knowledge of the health status of the horse (blindly), and statistically analyzed.

Results

The use of digital auscultation enabled the characterization and scoring of breath sounds in horses. The research found that wheezing, crackling, and rattling sounds, as well as breath intensity were significantly more frequent in horses experiencing an asthma attack (sEA+) compared to both healthy horses and those with inactive severe asthma or mild to moderate asthma.

The use of regression analysis suggested that breath duration and intensity could explain the grouping of the horses, and that wheezing sounds were linked to the score for tracheal mucus. The clinical weighted score (WCS23), was explained by breath intensity and wheezes.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that the novel DAD is effective in characterizing and quantifying breath sounds in horses. It helped demonstrate that adventitious sounds were more common in horses with active severe asthma. Further research with a larger sample size is needed to determine differences among healthy, mild to moderate asthmatic, and dormant severe asthmatic horses.

Cite This Article

APA
Greim E, Naef J, Mainguy-Seers S, Lavoie JP, Sage S, Dolf G, Gerber V. (2024). Breath characteristics and adventitious lung sounds in healthy and asthmatic horses. J Vet Intern Med. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16980

Publication

Journal of veterinary internal medicine
ISSN: 1939-1676
NlmUniqueID: 8708660
Country: United States
Language: English

Researcher Affiliations

Greim, Eloïse
  • Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Naef, Jan
  • Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Mainguy-Seers, Sophie
  • Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada.
Lavoie, Jean-Pierre
  • Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada.
Sage, Sophie
  • Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Dolf, Gaudenz
  • Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Gerber, Vinzenz
  • Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

Grant Funding

  • 33-890 / Institut Suisse de Mu00e9decine u00c9quine
  • PR2022-04 / Stiftung Pro Pferd

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Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
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