The California Postmortem Program: leading the way.
Abstract: The California Postmortem Program studies disease surveillance, discovers new causes of death, and develops new diagnostic methods for disease detection. It also informs directions for research focused on elucidating the etiopathogenesis of, and risk factors for, catastrophic fractures and other causes of death. Because most fatal injuries seem to be the acute culmination of a more chronic process, intervention and prevention of injuries is possible with enhanced knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of injuries and risk factors for injuries. These advances also would facilitate development of management strategies for injury prevention.
Publication Date: 2008-03-04 PubMed ID: 18314034DOI: 10.1016/j.cveq.2007.11.009Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research paper talks about the California Postmortem Program, which undertakes extensive disease surveillance, introduces new diagnostic methods, and identifies new ways people can die. This understanding can also help address critical fractures and other causes of deadly incidents. With more in-depth knowledge about how injuries occur and what the risk factors are, prevention strategies can be developed.
Objective of the Research
- The main objective of the California Postmortem Program, according to this paper, is to conduct disease surveillance, develop new diagnostic methods for disease detection, and discover new causes of death.
Research Focus
- The program also focuses on research that sheds light on the etiopathogenesis (root causes and development) of catastrophic fractures and other causes of death.
- Most fatal injuries, the paper notes, appear to be the end result of a longer, chronic process. This implies that understanding the root causes and development of these injuries can open up possibilities for intervention and prevention.
Role in Injury Prevention
- One of the significant potential contributions of this program is towards the prevention of injuries. By enhancing the knowledge about the etiopathogenesis of injuries and identifying risk factors, we better equip ourselves to anticipate and avoid such damaging incidents.
- These insights would further enable the development of effective management strategies aimed specifically at injury prevention.
Cite This Article
APA
Stover SM, Murray A.
(2008).
The California Postmortem Program: leading the way.
Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract, 24(1), 21-36.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cveq.2007.11.009 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, J.D. Wheat Veterinary Orthopedic Research Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. smstover@ucdavis.edu
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- California
- Cause of Death
- Fractures, Bone / epidemiology
- Fractures, Bone / mortality
- Fractures, Bone / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / epidemiology
- Horse Diseases / mortality
- Horses / injuries
- Population Surveillance
- Risk Factors
- Wounds and Injuries / epidemiology
- Wounds and Injuries / mortality
- Wounds and Injuries / veterinary
Citations
This article has been cited 12 times.- Noordwijk KJ, Chen L, Ruspi BD, Schurer S, Papa B, Fasanello DC, McDonough SP, Palmer SE, Porter IR, Basran PS, Donnelly E, Reesink HL. Metacarpophalangeal Joint Pathology and Bone Mineral Density Increase with Exercise but Not with Incidence of Proximal Sesamoid Bone Fracture in Thoroughbred Racehorses. Animals (Basel) 2023 Feb 24;13(5).
- Samol MA, Uzal FA, Blanchard PC, Arthur RM, Stover SM. Sudden death caused by spinal cord injury associated with vertebral fractures and fetlock failure in a Thoroughbred racehorse. J Vet Diagn Invest 2021 Jul;33(4):788-791.
- Bellone RR, Ocampo NR, Hughes SS, Le V, Arthur R, Finno CJ, Penedo MCT. Warmblood fragile foal syndrome type 1 mutation (PLOD1 c.2032G>A) is not associated with catastrophic breakdown and has a low allele frequency in the Thoroughbred breed. Equine Vet J 2020 May;52(3):411-414.
- Hitchens PL, Hill AE, Stover SM. Relationship Between Historical Lameness, Medication Usage, Surgery, and Exercise With Catastrophic Musculoskeletal Injury in Racehorses. Front Vet Sci 2018;5:217.
- Liley H, Zhang J, Firth EC, Fernandez JW, Besier TF. Statistical modeling of the equine third metacarpal bone incorporating morphology and bone mineral density. PLoS One 2018;13(6):e0194406.
- Hopper N, Singer E, Henson F. Increased sclerostin associated with stress fracture of the third metacarpal bone in the Thoroughbred racehorse. Bone Joint Res 2018 Jan;7(1):94-102.
- Noble P, Singer ER, Jeffery NS. Does subchondral bone of the equine proximal phalanx adapt to race training?. J Anat 2016 Jul;229(1):104-13.
- Hitchens PL, Hill AE, Stover SM. Jockey Falls, Injuries, and Fatalities Associated With Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Racing in California, 2007-2011. Orthop J Sports Med 2013 Jan-Jun;1(1):2325967113492625.
- Aleman M, Dimock AN, Wisner ER, Prutton JW, Madigan JE. Atlanto-axial approach for cervical myelography in a Thoroughbred horse with complete fusion of the atlanto-occipital bones. Can Vet J 2014 Nov;55(11):1069-73.
- Dubois MS, Morello S, Rayment K, Markel MD, Vanderby R Jr, Kalscheur VL, Hao Z, McCabe RP, Marquis P, Muir P. Computed tomographic imaging of subchondral fatigue cracks in the distal end of the third metacarpal bone in the thoroughbred racehorse can predict crack micromotion in an ex-vivo model. PLoS One 2014;9(7):e101230.
- Zhang Z, Yang Y, Ma Y, Mai Z, Fu H, Wang X, Cao X, Li T, Li J, Guo Q. Clinical Diagnosis, Treatment, and Outcome Analysis of a Horse with Proximal Sesamoid Bone Fracture Complicated by Flexor Tendinitis. Vet Sci 2026 Jan 2;13(1).
- Zhang Z, Li J, Mai Z, Yang Y, Fu H, Cao X, Li T, Guo Q, Ma Y. Clinical study on the effect of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on healing of proximal sesamoid bone fractures in Yili horses. Sci Rep 2025 Aug 28;15(1):31697.
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