Gastrointestinal hyperammonaemia in a 35‐day‐old Warmblood‐cross filly

Abstract

Summary Hyperammonaemia of gastrointestinal origin has been an infrequently reported phenomenon in mature horses with abdominal disease. A large case study has previously been published describing the condition for the first time in both mature horses and foals. The case report below provides a detailed description of the treatment, clinical course and outcome of one of the foals in that report.

Metabolic disorders in foals

“…Intestinal hyperammonaemia is an acquired condition that had, until 2011, only been reported in mature horses. The report by Unt et al (2012) in this issue, together with the case series from Dunkel et al (2011) highlights that the condition can indeed occur in foals and that perhaps we should be more vigilant for it.…”

“…Therefore the second proposed mechanism of intestinal ammonium production, deamination of glutamine by phosphate-activated glutaminase located in villus enterocytes of the small intestine (Romero-Gomez et al 2009;Dunkel 2010), could be responsible for intestinal ammonia production in foals. That said, the case reported by Unt et al (2012) and 3 additional foals aged <1 month reported by Dunkel et al (2011) had a primary diagnosis of colitis or enterocolitis, suggesting that the large intestinal flora may have changed considerably. The further 3 young foals reported by Dunkel et al (2011) had a primary diagnosis of meconium impaction.…”

“…In this issue, Unt et al (2012) present a case of intestinal hyperammonaemia in a foal. This condition has recently been reviewed in this journal (Dunkel 2010).…”

“…In contrast, very few metabolic disorders have been described in the horse and particularly the foal. In this issue of Equine Veterinary Education, Unt et al (2012) describe in detail a case of the metabolic disorder intestinal hyperammonaemia in a 7-week-old foal. This case was previously described (as Case 28) in a series of 36 cases of hyperammonaemia, which included 7 foals that were aged <2 months and three 4-9-month-old foals (Dunkel et al 2011).…”

“…In contrast, very few metabolic disorders have been described in the horse and particularly the foal. In this issue of Equine Veterinary Education , Unt et al . (2012) describe in detail a case of the metabolic disorder intestinal hyperammonaemia in a 7‐week‐old foal.…”