Magnetic resonance imaging of the equine foot: 15 horses.

The research discusses the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing foot pain causes in horses, a study conducted on the feet of 15 horses showed MRI was capable of identifying various the foot lesions that previously could not be diagnosed properly.

Research Objective and Methods

• With foot pain being a prevalent cause of lameness in horses, the researchers aimed to use MRI to examine the foot in live horses, describe findings in horses with unidentifiable foot pain through other methods, and correlate MRI findings with other clinical investigation methods.
• To fulfill the research purpose, MRI was carried out on the feet of 15 horses that had been experiencing unilateral or bilateral lameness associated with foot pain of unclear origin.
• All horses were examined using general anaesthesia, in right lateral recumbency position. The feet were positioned in the middle of a 1.5 Tesla GE Signa Echospeed magnet, a flared end magnet, enabling such examination in live horses.
• The researchers employed various kinds of image sequences like 3-dimensional (3D) T2* gradient echo (GRE), spoiled gradient echo, fat-saturated 3D T2* GRE, and short inversion recovery. The entire image acquisition process took around 1 hour.

Research Findings and Conclusion

• Several abnormalities were detected through MRI including issues in the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) cartilage and/or subchondral bone, periarticular osteophyte formation, and distension of the DIP joint capsule with or without synovial proliferation.
• Further findings included distension of the navicular bursa possibly due to chronic inflammation, lesions in the deep digital flexor tendon, abnormal signals within the navicular bone, potential evidence of mineralised fragments in the distal sesamoidean impar ligament, irregular outline in the medial cortex of the distal phalanx, and detecting unusual signals in the dorsal aspect of the distal phalanx often associated with laminitis.
• MRI provided far-reaching diagnostic data about the variety of lesions in the foot, benefitting our understanding of the root causes of foot pain in the horses that could not be diagnosed by radiography, nuclear scintigraphy, and ultrasonography.
• However, the authors note the need for longitudinal data as follow-up, to evaluate healing progress and establish prognosis for the injuries diagnosed through MRI.