What is the likelihood that a horse treated for septic digital tenosynovitis will return to its previous level of athletic function?

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Septic digital tenosynovitis is a serious problem in the horse, with a poor prognosis being reported for recovery. HYPOTHESIS: The occurrence of septic digital tenosynovitis would significantly reduce the likelihood of a horse returning to its previous level of athletic function. METHODS: Medical records of 90 horses treated for septic digital tenosynovitis were reviewed. Data retrieved included age, sex, location of inciting cause of sepsis, time from onset of clinical signs to presentation for treatment, and whether the horse survived to be discharged. Long-term outcome was determined through telephone questionnaires. Univariate analyses of categorical variables were conducted for each outcome. RESULTS: Overall, 87.8% of horses (79/90) survived to be discharged from the hospital. Only one factor examined was shown to have a significant effect on outcome. A delay of 1-7 days between onset of clinical signs and presentation for treatment reduced significantly the likelihood of the horse surviving to be discharged from the hospital. Of the horses discharged from the hospital, long-term follow-up was available for 72 horses, with 54.2% (39/72) returning to their previous level of athletic function. CONCLUSIONS: Only approximately 50% of horses treated for septic digital tenosynovitis returned to their previous level of athletic function following resolution of synovial sepsis. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Accurate figures allowing a realistic assessment of the athletic future of a horse following treatment for septic digital tenosynovitis are of value to both the owner and treating veterinarian.     

What is your diagnosis? Pleural fluid from a neonatal Thoroughbred filly with pneumonia

A 3-day-old filly was presented to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals with an umbilical hematoma and mild aspiration pneumonia. The foal underwent abdominal surgery for resection of the hematoma. Recovery was uneventful, but 3 days after surgery, the foal became progressively tachypneic. Imaging studies revealed bilateral pleural effusion and pleuropneumonia. Cytologic evaluation and bacterial culture of the pleural fluid from both sides of the chest revealed sterile exudates, consisting mostly of neutrophils, with fewer macrophages and lymphocytes. Pleural fluid macrophages contained variable amounts of purple-magenta globular material in their cytoplasm. A lighter colored granular precipitate was also seen throughout the background of the smears. Similar material was identified in a macrophage in a peripheral blood smear prepared 2 days after abdominal surgery. Large amounts of extracellular pink precipitate were also seen in the blood smear and persisted in the blood for 7 days after surgery. A protective lubricant, carboxymethylcellulose, had been instilled into the abdominal cavity during surgery to prevent intra-abdominal adhesions. The intracytoplasmic pigment within pleural fluid and blood macrophages and the extracellular precipitate in peripheral blood and pleural fluid smears was compatible with carboxymethylcellulose. The material was probably derived hematogenously and was considered an incidental finding. The pleuritis was attributed to exacerbation of the original aspiration pneumonia by the general anesthesia.     

Is Semen Analysis Useful to Predict the Odds that the Sperm will Meet the Egg?

Any mammalian spermatozoon that achieves successful in vivo fertilization has to perform almost perfectly in many disparate functions and overcome a series of obstacles imposed by the female reproductive tract. This implies that during formation in the testis and epididymis, the spermatozoa did not incur any morphological, metabolic, immunological or genetic abnormalities. Given that the spermatozoa are such highly differentiated cells, this means that every cellular compartment must not only be intact but must also respond appropriately to intracellular and extracellular signals. Assuming that a spermatozoon possesses this level of perfection, and is able to reach and penetrate an oocyte, it can only be regarded as 'fertile' if the DNA it carries is intact and able to sustain embryonic development. Although the proportion of inseminated spermatozoa that meet these criteria is vanishingly small, the female reproductive tract applies stringent selection criteria during sperm transport and, as a result, the probability of conception around the time of ovulation is very high. If laboratory tests of semen quality could approach the efficacy of the female reproductive tract, it would be possible to predict the odds of spermatozoa meeting the egg; however, this is not possible at present. In this article, I suggest a simple model to illustrate how a battery of laboratory tests could eventually be used to make these predictions.     

What is your diagnosis? Biopsy impression smear of a hepatic mass in a yearling Thoroughbred filly

A 1-year-old Thoroughbred filly was presented to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals with a 10-day history of fever, diarrhea, inappetance, and hypodipsia. Clinical pathology abnormalities found by the referring veterinarian included erythrocytosis, hyperproteinemia, and increased serum gamma-glutamyltransferase and lactate dehydrogenase activities. At Cornell University, the laboratory abnormalities were confirmed and also included thrombocytosis and hypoglycemia. Erythrocytosis persisted despite vigorous fluid therapy. Ultrasound examination revealed an extremely enlarged liver with abnormal echogenicity and a 21 x 25-cm hepatic mass with varied echogenicity. Imprints of an ultrasound-guided biopsy of the mass revealed a neoplastic epithelial population of uncertain origin, although the cells did not resemble hepatocytes. Together with the presenting signs, signalment, ultrasonographic findings, and persistent erythrocytosis, the cytologic findings were considered to be most consistent with hepatoblastoma. Histopathologic examination of the mass at necropsy confirmed the diagnosis and findings also included bone marrow erythroid hyperplasia. Serum erythropoietin concentration was 28.0 mU/mL (reference interval 1.0-11.8 mU/mL), supporting erythropoietin production by the tumor and secondary inappropriate erythrocytosis. To our knowledge, this report is the first to document secondary erythrocytosis with increased erythropoietin concentration in a horse with hepatoblastoma, and also the first to describe the cytopathologic features of this rare tumor.     

The epidemiology of bovine respiratory disease: What is the evidence for preventive measures?

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most common and costly disease of beef cattle in North America. Despite extensive research, industry practices are often more informed by dogma than by fact. Frequently advocated interventions, including vaccination, various processing procedures, and nutritional manipulation, have limited impact on morbidity and mortality. Evidence for use of oral antimicrobials, either in feed or water, appears to be equivocal. In contrast, preconditioning and metaphylaxis have significant scientific evidence of efficacy, with weaning prior to sale potentially being the most important component of preconditioning. The inability to reach more definitive conclusions in preventing BRD may be attributable to difficulties in investigating the disease. Study challenges include potential for extensive confounding, tremendous variability, the multi-factorial nature of the disease, and inadequate methods for diagnosis.     

The epidemiology of bovine respiratory disease: What is the evidence for predisposing factors?

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most costly disease of beef cattle in North America. It is multi-factorial, with a variety of physical and physiological stressors combining to predispose cattle to pneumonia. However, efforts to discern which factors are most important have frequently failed to establish definitive answers. Calves are at highest risk shortly after transport. Risk factors include purchasing from sale barns and commingling. It is unclear whether or not these practices increase susceptibility, increase exposure, or are proxies for poor management. Lighter-weight calves appear to be at greater risk, although this has not been consistent. Persistent infection (PI) with bovine virus diarrhea virus increases BRD occurrence, but it is unclear if PI calves affect other cattle in the feedlot. The complexity of BRD has made it difficult to define involvement of individual factors. Stressors may play a role as "necessary but not sufficient" components, requiring additive effects to cause disease.