Prevalence and severity of ultrasonographic pulmonary findings in horses with asthma – a preliminary study.

The researchers studied the use of ultrasound to detect and evaluate the severity of lung damage in horses with asthma. They found that ultrasound can reveal even minor lung lesions, making it a useful supplemental tool for diagnosing and monitoring the progression of equine asthma. However, because it lacks specificity, ultrasound can’t replace other diagnostic methods like endoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage.

Research Methodology

• The study involved two groups of horses: a control group of six healthy horses and a test group of 12 horses diagnosed with asthma, six with mild and six with severe asthma.
• The researchers used ultrasound to visually inspect the lungs of each horse in three different sections.
• They developed a scoring system to quantify the prevalence and severity of any ultrasound-visible lung lesions in each horse.

Findings

• All the horses, including those in the control group, showed some ultrasound-visible changes in their lung tissue, most commonly in the form of “comet-tail artefacts”.
• Horses with severe asthma displayed more advanced lesions on ultrasound.
• The researchers observed statistically significant differences in the overall average intensity of ultrasound changes between the control group and the study group, as well as between horses with mild and severe asthma.
• Lesions tended to be located in the caudal (rear) regions of the lungs, but were found in other areas as well as the disease advanced.

Conclusions

• The study concluded that ultrasound can be a valuable additional tool for diagnosing and monitoring the progression of equine asthma due to its sensitivity in visualizing minor lung lesions.
• However, its lack of specificity makes it inappropriate as a standalone diagnostic method. Ultrasound cannot replace other diagnostic methods such as endoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage, which involve washing and examining the bronchial tubes.