Efficacy of prosthetic laryngoplasty with and without bilateral ventriculocordectomy as treatments for laryngeal hemiplegia in horses.
Abstract: To evaluate the efficacy of prosthetic laryngoplasty with and without bilateral ventriculocordectomy for treatment of experimentally induced left laryngeal hemiplegia (LLH). Methods: 15 adult Standardbreds. Methods: Horses were allotted to 3 equal groups. Sham operation (group 1), prosthetic laryngoplasty (group 2), or prosthetic laryngoplasty with bilateral ventriculocordectomy (group 3) was performed after induction of LLH. Upper airway function testing was performed prior to left recurrent laryngeal neurectomy (LRLN), 14 days after LRLN, and 60 and 180 days after surgical treatment. Measurements were obtained at rest and at treadmill speeds corresponding to 75 and 100% of maximal heart rate. Videoendoscopy was performed at rest and during exercise in all horses prior to LRLN and 60 and 180 days after surgical treatment. Upper airway endoscopy was performed immediately after LRLN to document induction of grade-IV LLH. Also, horses in group 3 were endoscopically examined at 7, 14, 21, 28, and 120 days after surgical treatment to evaluate healing of the ventriculocordectomy sites. Results: When horses were at rest, significant differences were not apparent between groups at any period or between periods for any measured variable. LRLN induced airway obstruction in all horses during exercise. In sham-operated horses, this obstruction was unaffected by time. In contrast, 60 and 180 days after surgical treatment, inspiratory flow limitations induced by LRLN were reversed in horses of groups 2 and 3. There were no significant differences between the 2 treatment groups. Endoscopy revealed the left arytenoid cartilage abducted beyond the intermediate position, but not touching the pharyngeal wall in all horses with a laryngeal prosthesis. After surgical treatment, 4 group-2 horses had filling of both ventricles with air during exercise. There was moderate to marked swelling of the ventriculocordectomy sites immediately after surgery, and this swelling resolved by 7 days after surgery. The ventriculocordectomy sites looked best at 14 and 180 days. Conclusions: 60 and 180 days after prosthetic laryngoplasty, upper airway function returned to pre-LRLN values in horses with experimentally induced LLH exercising at 100% of maximal heart rate. Combining ventriculocordectomy with prosthetic laryngoplasty does not further improve upper airway function in these horses.
Publication Date: 1996-11-01 PubMed ID: 8915450
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This study investigates two surgical procedures – prosthetic laryngoplasty alone and in combination with bilateral ventriculocordectomy – as treatments for left laryngeal hemiplegia (LLH) in horses. The study found that horses with LLH which underwent prosthetic laryngoplasty showed improved upper airway function 60 and 180 days post-surgery. However, adding ventriculocordectomy didn’t significantly improve airway function further.
Research Methodology
- The research was conducted on 15 adult Standardbred horses. These horses were divided into three equal groups. One group was subjected to a sham (fake) operation, the second group underwent prosthetic laryngoplasty alone, while the third group received prosthetic laryngoplasty along with bilateral ventriculocordectomy.
- All the horses had their left laryngeal hemiplegia (LLH) artificially induced.
- The upper airway function of the horses was tested before the induction of LLH, two weeks after, and 60 and 180 days following surgical treatment. The measurements were taken at rest and at exercise levels corresponding to 75 and 100 percent of their maximum heart rate.
- The effects of the surgery was maintained over a period of 60 and 180 days after the surgical treatment
Research Findings
- When the horses were at rest, there weren’t any significant differences noticed between the different groups or periods for any measured variable.
- The procedure of left recurrent laryngeal neurectomy (LRLN) resulted in airway obstruction in all horses when they were exercising.
- The airway obstruction continued without showing any improvement over time in the group which received the sham operation.
- However, 60 and 180 days after surgery, the limitations in the inspiratory flow that was caused by LRLN reversed in the horses that underwent prosthetic laryngoplasty either alone or combined with bilateral ventriculocordectomy. But there were no significant differences between the two surgical treatments.
- Prosthetic laryngoplasty resulted in improving airway function in horses with LLH. Yet, the inclusion of ventriculocordectomy with prosthetic laryngoplasty did not enhance this improvement.
Conclusions
- Prosthetic laryngoplasty surgery resulted in upper airway function returning to pre-surgery values in horses with induced LLH exercising at maximum heart rate 60 and 180 days after surgery.
- The additional ventriculocordectomy to prosthetic laryngoplasty did not result in further improvement of upper airway function in these horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Tetens J, Derksen FJ, Stick JA, Lloyd JW, Robinson NE.
(1996).
Efficacy of prosthetic laryngoplasty with and without bilateral ventriculocordectomy as treatments for laryngeal hemiplegia in horses.
Am J Vet Res, 57(11), 1668-1673.
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1314, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Female
- Heart Rate
- Hemiplegia / surgery
- Hemiplegia / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / surgery
- Horses
- Laryngeal Diseases / surgery
- Laryngeal Diseases / veterinary
- Laryngectomy / veterinary
- Larynx, Artificial / veterinary
- Male
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Lean NE, Bertin FR, Ahern BJ. Influence of unilateral and bilateral vocal cordectomy on airflow across cadaveric equine larynges at different Rakestraw grades of arytenoid abduction. Vet Surg 2022 Aug;51(6):974-981.
- Brown BN, Siebenlist NJ, Cheetham J, Ducharme NG, Rawlinson JJ, Bonassar LJ. Computed tomography-guided tissue engineering of upper airway cartilage. Tissue Eng Part C Methods 2014 Jun;20(6):506-13.
- Grevemeyer B, Bogdanovic L, Canton S, St Jean G, Cercone M, Ducharme NG, Brown BN. Regenerative medicine approach to reconstruction of the equine upper airway. Tissue Eng Part A 2014 Apr;20(7-8):1213-21.
- Cheetham J, Regner A, Jarvis JC, Priest D, Sanders I, Soderholm LV, Mitchell LM, Ducharme NG. Functional electrical stimulation of intrinsic laryngeal muscles under varying loads in exercising horses. PLoS One 2011;6(8):e24258.
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