What is your diagnosis? Ulcerative nasal lesion in a Quarter Horse

Abstract

A 17-year-old Quarter Horse mare was evaluated at the Oklahoma State University Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for intermittent epistaxis from the right nostril and a 4-month history of weight loss. The horse had a body condition score of 3/9 with a small amount of blood present in the right nostril and a slightly enlarged right mandibular lymph node. Results of a CBC and biochemical profile were unremarkable. Examination of the right nostril revealed an ulcerated proliferative lesion on the nasal septum starting 5-7 cm from the nasal opening. Endoscopic examination of the airways and guttural pouch was normal. The nasal lesion was swabbed and samples submitted for cytologic evaluation (Figure 1). Three weeks later, a biopsy of the lesion was obtained and submitted for fungal culture and histopathology. A B C Figure 1. Direct smear from an ulcerated nasal lesion in a horse. Aqueous Romanowsky. 455 Vet Clin Pathol 44/3 (2015) 455-456