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Journal of veterinary internal medicine2024; doi: 10.1111/jvim.17125

Primary phenotypic features associated with caudal neck pathology in warmblood horses.

Abstract: Detailed descriptions of clinical signs associated with radiological findings of the caudal cervical vertebral column are not available. Objective: Describe the clinical features associated with neck pain or stiffness, neck-related thoracic limb lameness, proprioceptive ataxia consistent with a cervicothoracic spinal cord or nerve lesion, and their frequency of occurrence compared with control horses. Methods: A total of 223 Warmblood horses. Methods: Case-control study. Controls and cases were recruited prospectively. All horses underwent predetermined lameness and neurologic examinations. The frequency of occurrence of each clinical feature was compared between cases and controls and relative risk (RR) were calculated. Results: Ninety-six cases and 127 controls were included. Forty-seven (49%) of the cases were classified as neurologic, 31 (32.3%) had thoracic limb lameness, and 18 (18.7%) had neck stiffness or pain or both. Focal caudal cervical muscle atrophy (46, 47.9%), hypoesthesia (38, 39.6%), patchy sweating (16, 16.7%), hyperesthesia (11, 11.5%), and pain upon firm pressure applied over the caudal cervical articular process joints and transverse processes (58, 60.4%) were only observed in cases (P < .001). Sideways flexion of the neck was restricted in a higher proportion of cases (47/96, 49%) compared with controls (40/127, 31.8%; P = .009, RR 1.5). Hopping-type thoracic limb lameness was only observed in cases, (30, 31.6%). Deterioration in lameness after diagnostic anesthesia occurred in 13/31 (41.9%) cases. Conclusions: Systematic clinical evaluation using the methods described should enable clinical differentiation between horses with caudal cervical lesions and horses with other causes of gait abnormalities.
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
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Publication Date: 2024-06-03 PubMed ID: 38829000DOI: 10.1111/jvim.17125Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article aims to describe the clinical features associated with caudal neck pathology in warmblood horses, as well as their frequency of occurrence compared to healthy horses.

Research Methods

  • The researchers conducted a case-control study, collecting data from 223 Warmblood horses. The sample comprised both horses with caudal cervical vertebra issues (cases) and healthy ones (controls).
  • Every horse underwent pre determined lameness and neurological examinations to ascertain their clinical conditions.
  • The team of researchers compared the frequency of each clinical feature occurrence between cases and controls. They further calculated the relative risk for these conditions.

Results

  • A total of 96 cases and 127 controls were studied. Out of the cases, 47 (49%) were classified as neurological issues, 31 (32.3%) presented thoracic limb lameness, and 18 (18.7%) showed neck stiffness or pain.
  • Specific symptoms—like focal caudal cervical muscle atrophy (47.9%), hypoesthesia (39.6%), patchy sweating (16.7%), hyperesthesia (11.5%), and pain upon firm pressure applied over the caudal cervical articular process joints and transverse processes (60.4%)—were only observed in horses with caudal neck pathology.
  • A restricted sideways flexion of the neck was observed more in cases (49%) than controls (31.8%), indicating a relative risk of 1.5.
  • Hopping-type thoracic limb lameness was only noticed in the cases, accounting for almost a third (31.6%) of them.
  • After diagnostic anesthesia, lameness progressingly worsened in 41.9% of the cases.

Conclusion

  • The researchers conclude that using the systematic clinical evaluation methods presented in the study should allow for a differential diagnosis between horses with caudal neck pathology and horses with other causes of gait irregularities.

Cite This Article

APA
Dyson S, Zheng S, Aleman M. (2024). Primary phenotypic features associated with caudal neck pathology in warmblood horses. J Vet Intern Med. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.17125

Publication

Journal of veterinary internal medicine
ISSN: 1939-1676
NlmUniqueID: 8708660
Country: United States
Language: English

Researcher Affiliations

Dyson, Sue
  • The Cottage, Diss, UK.
Zheng, Shichen
  • Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA.
Aleman, Monica
  • Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA.

Grant Funding

  • V435104 / Funding provided by gifts from anonymous donors towards the Equine and Comparative Neurology Research Group, UC Davis (Aleman)

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Citations

This article has been cited 3 times.
  1. Strootmann T, Peter VG, Körner J. Radiographic Prevalence of Anatomical Variations of the Ventral Lamina of the Sixth Cervical Vertebra, C6/C7 Articular Process Joint Modelling and Competition Outcomes in Warmblood Sport Horses. Animals (Basel) 2026 Jan 29;16(3).
    doi: 10.3390/ani16030424pubmed: 41681407google scholar: lookup
  2. Boado A, Pollard D, Lopez-Sanroman FJ, Dyson S. Orthopaedic Injuries in 272 Dressage Horses: A Retrospective Study. Animals (Basel) 2025 Oct 14;15(20).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15202972pubmed: 41153899google scholar: lookup
  3. Dyson S, Phillips K, Zheng S, Aleman M. Congenital variants of the ventral laminae of the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae are not associated with clinical signs or other radiological abnormalities of the cervicothoracic region in Warmblood horses. Equine Vet J 2025 Mar;57(2):419-430.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.14127pubmed: 38938125google scholar: lookup
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