Intracranial abscess caused by Rhodococcus equi infection in a foal.

The research evaluates a case where a colt with a suspected respiratory infection was later found to have a brain abscess, caused by Rhodococcus equi infection. The young horse’s condition significantly improved after undergoing an intracranial surgery, showcasing that procedures typically done on dogs and cats can be adapted for equine patients under certain circumstances.

Case Background

• A 4-month old Missouri Fox Trotter colt observed with a head tilt for about 5 weeks was the patient of this case in focus. This happened following a treatment for a suspected Rhodococcus equi infection, which typically affects the respiratory system of foals.
• We can infer that the infection was somehow related, or had escalated from the underlying respiratory illness — but this became clear later in the study.

<h3 FINDINGS

• Professionals performed Computed Tomography (CT) on the foal, which exposed to them the destructive activities in some bones of its skull — the occipital, the temporal and the back part of the parietal bones, precisely on the left side.
• Additionally, they found a soft tissue mass that was not only putting pressure on the posterior area of the brain cortex and cerebellum, but was also associated with the degraded bones.

TREATMENT

• Because of the critical conditions of the degraded bones, the medical team decided to proceed with a rostrotentorial-suboccipital craniectomy, which involved the removal of some parts of the damaged occipital bone and reduction of the mass inside the skull. They also collected tissue samples for further study and bacterial culture.
• After three days, there was a substantial improvement in the neurological conditions of the foal.

CONFIRMATION OF CAUSATIVE AGENT

• Bacterial culture was performed on the tissue samples that were collected during the surgery, which revealed Rhodococcus equi to be the causative organism. It thus confirmed that the respiratory bacteria had spread, causing the brain abscess.

CONCLUSIONS

• The research suggests that this case could serve as a precedent for the veterinary world, arguing the possibility of adapting surgical techniques typically performed on dogs and cats for some specific conditions in horses.
• Necessarily, the successful execution of the procedure on the foal in this case study sets a path for future adaptations and inferences on a broader scale.