The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
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A54 TheHorse.com/AAEP2017 AAEP Wrap-Up THE HORSE March 2018 YOUR GUIDE TO THE 2017 AAEP CONVENTION SPONSORED BY Managing Umbilical Remnant Complications in Foals Umbilical infection and patent urachus (urine leakage through the umbilicus) commonly affect foals, with both conditions typically requiring surgery, said Laia Reig, BVM (Hons), an intern at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine's Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center. Although the surgical procedures to correct umbilical issues have been well-described, there was little information regarding postsurgical events, complications, and outcomes. So Reig and colleagues reviewed medical records from 82 foals with umbilical issues. Based on their findings, said Reig, "Surgical management of infected and/or patent umbilical remnants has a good prognosis overall. However, pre-existing joint infections and development of joint infections postoperatively decrease survival. In fact, 39% of (those) foals suffered postopera- tive complications." A Tool to Diagnose Cardiac Arrhythmias on the Farm Veterinarians typically diagnose cardiac arrhythmias (heart rhythm irregularities) with an electrocardiograph (ECG) unit, but these cumbersome instruments are impractical for farm calls. So Bill Gilsenan, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM (LAIM), of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, described a smartphone-based heart monitor vets can use in the field: the AliveCor Veteri- nary Heart Monitor. He said the handheld wireless portable ECG device is essentially an iPhone case with electrodes on it that trans- mits an ECG-compatible signal to a phone. "It offers substantially more information to the ambulatory veterinarian, who is equipped with simply a stethoscope," he says, "and can influence decisions to properly treat or refer affected patients." What We Know About Immune- Mediated Myositis in Horses Immune-mediated myositis (IMM) is a sometimes-fatal muscle disease that occurs predominantly in Quarter Horses and related breeds. Lazslo Hunyadi, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, of Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, conducted a retrospective study of horses diagnosed with IMM at the University of California, Davis, to learn about the condi- tion and affected horses' likelihood of survival. He determined that "horses with IMM can have high survival rates (87% in this study), especially if treated early. We did not identify a definitive etiology (cause), but IMM was associated with a recent history of respiratory infection or vaccination, and Quarter Horses and related breeds were overrepresented." Scientists Test Probiotic to Prevent C. Difficile Outbreaks During a recent Clostridium difficile neo- nate outbreak, researchers from the University of California, Davis, sought to find out if a probiotic could help prevent disease. Foals dosed with a probiotic mixture twice a day for their first two days of life experi- enced no C. difficile-associated diarrhea. Also, fewer foals receiving the supplement de- veloped foal-heat diarrhea than did untreated foals. This suggests using a targeted probiotic might help reduce C. difficile-associated diar- rhea in neonatal foals, the team concluded. Review: Bony Changes in the Equine Neck To better understand bone pathologies in horses' necks, Kevin Haussler, DVM, DC, PhD, Dipl. ACVSMR, of Colorado State University, investi- gated the cervical spines of 56 euthanized horses. Most (72%) had abnormal bony changes anywhere from the head to the lower neck. Grades ranged from mild (28%) to moderate (22%) to severe (5%). Many changes re- lated to osteoarthritis and muscle and joint capsule connective tissues, and many horses exhibited more than one issue. He concluded that many changes aren't visible via radiographs, and horses might have changes with- out showing obvious signs. It is unclear which specific bony changes contribute to pain and stiffness, he said. Water Treadmills Help Condition Horses A team from the University of Calgary and Washington State University evalu- ated fitness in horses trained on tread- mills with (WT) and without (DT) water. Nine unfit Thoroughbreds participated in a pre- and post-conditioning maximal- exercise racetrack test, which recorded their VO 2 max (maximum oxygen used during intense exercise); respiration; heart rate; whole blood lactate; and speed. The team found that neither maximum heart rate nor maximum speed changed. However, the WT-conditioned horses showed a 16% increase in their VO 2 max and a 17.4% increase in average speed. Horses in the DT-conditioned group didn't exhibit significant fitness increases. "Adding WT protocols to the training program of horses may have a beneficial conditioning effect, while minimizing concussive forces," the authors noted. Functional Electrical Stimulation Aids Back Muscle Symmetry Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a type of elec- trotherapy that stimulates the motor nerves responsible for muscle function, meaning it could help achieve or maintain multifidi (spine-stabilizing) muscle symmetry. Research- ers evaluated its impact on equine multifidi muscle asym- metry and found that FES might help reduce back pain in horses with asymmetric multifidi muscles. "FES will get the muscles activated and symmetrical, but then you must trans- fer that improvement in muscle function to the work under saddle, so the horse can perform their job in better balance," said presenter Sheila Schils, MS, PhD, principal of EquiNew. FIND FULL STORIES AT TheHorse.com/AAEP2017 COURTESY DR. SHEILA SCHILS Veterinarians can perform electrotherapy using FES.