Investigation of a progressive facial deformity and stridor in an adult horse with a bone sequestrum and subsequent sinonasal abscess.

This research article details the use of advanced diagnostic imaging and histopathological investigation to identify and understand a case of chronic facial swelling in an adult horse caused by a bone sequestrum and abscess. Unusually, this case did not include common symptoms like eating difficulties, weight loss, or head shaking.

Presenting Case

• The subject of this study is an adult horse suffering from chronic facial swelling. This is an unusual case, as it does not feature standard symptoms commonly associated with this condition such as difficulty eating, weight loss, head shaking, or fistula formation between the oral cavity and the maxillary sinus. Instead, the only overt sign was the facial swelling.

Investigation Methodology

• The team used advanced diagnostic imaging technology pet/ct scans and histopathological investigation — the microscopic examination of biological tissues to observe the appearance of diseased cells and tissues in very fine detail.

Results and Findings

• These examinations revealed a bone sequestrum and abscess. A bone sequestrum is a piece of dead bone that has become separated during the process of necrosis from the sound bone. On the other hand, abscessation is the process through which an abscess forms due to an accumulation of pus in a localized infection.
• Therefore, this would imply that there was an infection in the horse’s head that led to necrosis of some of the bone, causing the chronic facial swelling. However, for unknown reasons, this did not cause the typical symptoms seen in most other cases of a bone sequestrum and abscess.

Significance of the Study

• This study signifies the importance of using diagnostic imaging and histopathological investigation in identifying less typical cases of bone sequestrum and abscess in horses, potentially leading to better treatments in such unusual cases.