Equine grass sickness: Benefits of a multifaceted research approach

Pirie, R. S.; McGorum, Bruce

doi:10.1111/evj.12628

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Epidemiological studies have improved our understanding of different types of colic and their causes , but also have yielded information of diagnostic value. For example, horses with compatible clinical and other findings can be identified by disease risk, such as recent coastal Bermuda grass hay consumption (ileal impaction ), old age (strangulating lipoma ), crib‐biting (epiploic foramen entrapment ), American miniature horse and other small breeds (fecalith in small colon ), and origin from same premises as other cases with similar signs and confirmed diagnosis (grass sickness ).…”

Section: Role Of Diagnostic Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifty years of colic surgery

Freeman

2018

Equine Veterinary Journal

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Colic surgery is one of few treatments in which a veterinarian can use a skill to save an animal's life from a deadly disease within a short timeframe. Unfortunately, such success is not achieved without considerable risk for surgical failure, which is responsible for most complications in the immediate post-operative period. The last 50 years have witnessed considerable improvements in colic surgery, although a ranking of the most important ones might not meet with universal agreement. Teamwork plays a critical role in the final outcome, starting and finishing with the referring veterinarian and owner. These individuals are responsible for promptly transferring the horse to a surgical facility and then dealing with aftercare and delayed complications. The surgeon is responsible for the intervening steps, including the decision on the need for surgery, and works with the anaesthesiologist to help a metabolically challenged patient to tolerate surgery and anaesthesia. Although early referral and improved diagnostic procedures can have a positive influence on survival, perceived improvements in surgery and anaesthesia need to be reviewed with some circumspection. Although more rigorous definitions and statistical analyses used in recent studies can invalidate comparisons with older studies, complication rates appear to be on the rise, despite putative improvements in dealing with them. This trend tends to diminish the value of colic surgery through increasing costs, overreliance on post-operative pharmacological management, growing pessimism, high rates of intraoperative euthanasia, and possibly reduced long-term survival. Future efforts should address these concerns, mostly through emphasis on prompt referral, good surgical technique and reducing the cost of colic surgery to an affordable level that saves more lives.

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Section: Role Of Diagnostic Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifty years of colic surgery

Freeman

2018

Equine Veterinary Journal

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“… Reportedly successful historic botulinum vaccine trial (1922 and 1923) [2]  Disease phenotypic differences between ED and neuroparalytic botulism [4]  Significantly greater prevalence of intestinal C. botulinum bacteria and/or toxin in ED cases versus control animals [27][28][29]  Greater prevalence of other (nonbotulinum) clostridial species in intestinal tract of ED cases versus controls (possibly reflecting generalized clostridial overgrowth) [34;35]  Risk factors supportive of involvement of a soil-borne agent [36;37]  Neuropathology apparently inconsistent with action of C. botulinum neurotoxins [38]  Inverse association between disease risk and systemic concentration of antibodies against C. botulinum bacteria and toxin [39]  SNARE protein expression in EGS ganglion and enteric neurons inconsistent with action of C. botulinum neurotoxins [38]  Higher mucosal IgA against BoNT/C and D in acute ED cases versus control animals [40]  Lack of evidence of temporal and geographic clustering of ED and neuroparalytic botulism cases…”

Section: Supportive Factors Refutative Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equine Dysautonomia

McGorum

Pirie

2018

Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice

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Equine dysautonomia (ED; also known as equine grass sickness) is a neurological disease of unknown cause, which primarily affects grazing adult horses. The clinical signs reflect degeneration of specific neuronal populations, predominantly within the autonomic and enteric nervous systems, with disease severity and prognosis determined by the extent of neuronal loss. This review is primarily focused on the major clinical decision-making processes in relation to ED, namely, (1) clinical diagnosis, (2) selection of appropriate ancillary diagnostic tests, (3) obtaining diagnostic confirmation, (4) selection of treatment candidates, and (5) identifying appropriate criteria for euthanasia.

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