ABSTRACT
REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an electrophysiological technique used to elicit motor evoked potentials (MMEPs) to evaluate the functional integrity of the descending motor fibres in the spinal cord. Successful application of the technique was reported in horses with spinal cord compression. However, limited data are available on the correlation of TMS with histopathological changes. OBJECTIVES: To determine sensitivity of TMS for assessing the integrity of the spinal cord in horses with compressive lesions of the spinal cord. STUDY DESIGN: Case series. METHODS: The study was conducted on 6 horses with spinal ataxia grade III-V/V admitted to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University. The horses underwent TMS, radiography of the cervical or thoracolumbar vertebral column, and myelography (4/6). All horses were subjected to euthanasia and the spinal cord examined histopathologically. RESULTS: In 5/6 horses MMEPs with abnormal onset latencies in both extensor carpi radialis muscles and cranial tibialis muscles were recorded, suggesting a cervical spinal cord lesion. Radiography revealed cervical vertebral malformation (4/5) with cervical vertebral canal stenosis (3/5) and tumour/osteomyelitis (1/5). In 1/6 horse MMEPs with normal onset latencies in extensor carpi radialis muscles and prolonged onset latencies in tibialis cranialis muscles were recorded, suggesting a thoracolumbar spinal cord lesion. Radiography revealed deformation of the 7th and 8th thoracic vertebrae. Myelography showed reduction in dural diameter and dorsal contrast column (4/4). Histopathological examination of the spinal cord confirmed compressive type lesions in all 6 horses with degenerative changes in the white matter of all funiculi, ballooning of myelin sheets, swollen axons, loss of axons and astroglial activation. CONCLUSIONS: In this case series abnormal function of descending motor pathways as registered by TMS showed 100% sensitivity with the histopathological characteristics of compressive lesions in the spinal cord, but the number of horses is limited and further research is warranted. Ethical animal research: Research ethics committee oversight not currently required by this conference: the study was performed on material collected during clinical procedures. Explicit owner informed consent for participation in this study was not stated. SOURCE OF FUNDING: Not applicable. Competing interests: None declared.
Subject(s)
Abscess/veterinary , Drainage/veterinary , Horse Diseases/surgery , Rectal Diseases/veterinary , Abscess/diagnostic imaging , Abscess/surgery , Animals , Drainage/methods , Female , Horse Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Horses , Rectal Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Rectal Diseases/surgery , Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color/veterinary , Vagina/diagnostic imaging , Vagina/surgeryABSTRACT
In Belgium and even in northern Europe Rhinosporidium seeberi has not been reported in autochtonous people or animals. In this paper, the authors report the first observation of laryngeal masses, caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi, in a Belgian Warmblood horse. Moreover, laryngeal rhinosporidiosis is extremely rare since this localisation is only described in four human cases.
Subject(s)
Horse Diseases/diagnosis , Laryngeal Diseases/veterinary , Rhinosporidiosis/veterinary , Rhinosporidium/isolation & purification , Animals , Belgium , Female , Horse Diseases/pathology , Horse Diseases/surgery , Horses , Laryngeal Diseases/diagnosis , Laryngeal Diseases/pathology , Laryngeal Diseases/surgery , Rhinosporidiosis/diagnosis , Rhinosporidiosis/pathology , Rhinosporidiosis/surgerySubject(s)
Horse Diseases/diagnosis , Kidney Diseases/veterinary , Ureter/abnormalities , Ureter/surgery , Animals , Cystostomy/veterinary , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Horse Diseases/pathology , Horse Diseases/surgery , Horses , Kidney Diseases/diagnosis , Laparoscopy/veterinary , Nephrectomy/veterinarySubject(s)
Cattle Diseases/diagnosis , Cattle Diseases/surgery , Intestinal Obstruction/veterinary , Intestine, Small/pathology , Intestine, Small/surgery , Animals , Cattle , Colic , Female , Intestinal Obstruction/diagnosis , Intestinal Obstruction/surgery , Laparotomy , Prevalence , Treatment Outcome , UltrasonographySubject(s)
Desulfovibrionaceae Infections/veterinary , Horse Diseases/microbiology , Intestinal Diseases/veterinary , Lawsonia Bacteria , Animals , Desulfovibrionaceae Infections/epidemiology , Desulfovibrionaceae Infections/microbiology , Desulfovibrionaceae Infections/pathology , Fatal Outcome , Horse Diseases/epidemiology , Horse Diseases/pathology , Horses , Intestinal Diseases/epidemiology , Intestinal Diseases/microbiology , Intestinal Diseases/pathology , Lawsonia Bacteria/isolation & purification , MaleABSTRACT
Transcranial magnetic stimulation and measurement of the magnetic motor-evoked potentials (MMEPs) in the thoracic and pelvic limbs of four recumbent horses and one recumbent donkey were used to assess the integrity of the descending motor pathways, in order to confirm or exclude a descending motor tract lesion as the cause of the recumbency. In two of the animals abnormal MMEPs were recorded; in one of the horses a lesion along the cervical spinal cord due to a fracture of the fifth cervical vertebra was diagnosed and confirmed by radiography and postmortem examination; in another horse, damage to the peripheral nerves of the left forelimb was diagnosed and confirmed postmortem when a large abscess was found to have been compressing the peripheral nerves at the level of the last cervical vertebra. In the three other animals, normal MMEPs were recorded, and laminitis, rhabdomyolysis and physitis were diagnosed as the causes of the recumbency.
