HIGHLIGHTS OF RECENT CLINICALLY RELEVANT PAPERS
or between primary or secondary sinusitis. Additional nasal fenes- trations to improve sinonasal drainage, maxillary septal bulla fenes- trations and trephinations to treat nasal conchal bullae were made in the CT groups. CT provided additional diagnostic information and enabled different surgical approaches but did not improve resolu- tion in this study population.
BODY CONDITION INDEX FOR ADIPOSITY
In this study, Samantha Potter and co- workers in Australia and the United Kingdom developed a body condition index (BCI), based on ob- jective morphometric measurements, that correlates with % body fat . Morphometric measurements were obtained from 21 ponies and
horses in obese and moderate body conditions. Percentage body fat was determined using the deuterium dilution method, and the BCI was derived to give the optimal correlation with body fat, applying appropriate weightings. The index was validated by assessing inter- observer variation and correlation with % body fat in a separate population of Welsh ponies. The correlation between BCI and body condition score (BCS) was evaluated in larger populations from stud- ies in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The BCI correlated well with adiposity in the ponies and horses;
however, it was found to slightly overestimate the % body fat in leaner animals and underestimate in more obese animals. In field studies, the correlation between BCI and BCS varied in Shetlands and miniature ponies, due to differences in body shape. This BCI was able to provide an index of adiposity which com-
pared favourably with condition scoring in terms of accuracy of es- timating adiposity and was more consistent and repeatable when used by inexperienced assessors.
CYATHOSTOMIN TESTING
This study by Kirsty Lightbody and co- workers in the United Kingdom, Germany, USA, France and Ireland aimed to validate a serum ELISA test for cyathostomin infection in equines . The ELISA in this study is optimised/validated for commercial ap-
plication using sera from horses for which burden data were available. Optimisation included the addition of total IgG- based calibrators to provide standard curves for the quantification of antigen- specific IgG(T) used to generate a CT3- specific ‘serum score’ for each horse. Validation data set results were used to assess the performance of the optimised test and select serum score cut- off values for diagno- sis of burdens above 1000, 5000 and 10,000 cyathostomins. The test demonstrated excellent performance (Receiver operating char- acteristic area under the curve values >0.9) in diagnosing infection, with >90% sensitivity and >70% specificity at the selected serum score cut- off values. CT3- specific serum IgG(T) profiles in equines
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in different settings were assessed to provide information for com- mercial test use. These studies demonstrated maternal transfer of CT3- specific IgG(T) in colostrum to newborns, levels of which de- clined before increasing as foals consumed contaminated pasture. Studies in geographically distinct populations demonstrated that the proportion of horses that reported as test positive at a 14.37 CT3 serum score (1000- cyathostomin threshold) was associated with parasite transmission risk. Inclusion criteria for commercial use were developed based on
the results. Logistic regression models were developed to predict probabilities that burdens of individuals are above- defined thresh- olds based on the reported serum score. The models performed at a similar level to the serum score cut- off approach. This CT3 test can help obtain evidence of low cyathostomin burdens that do not re- quire anthelmintic treatment and support the diagnosis of infection.
Sue Wright
EVE Editorial Office Email:
sue@evj.co.uk
ORCID Sue Wright
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5513-8571
REFERENCES
Arnold , L.C. , Stout , T.A.E. & Claes , A.N.J. ( 2024 ) Ultrasound- guided fetal thorax compression to reduce post- fixation twins in the mare . Equine Veterinary Journal . Available from: https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ evj. 14060 . Epub ahead of print.
Hagen , J. , Brouwer , J. , Lux , S. , Weiske , F. & Jung , F.T. ( 2023 ) Characteristics of hoof landing in sound horses and the influence of trimming and shoeing examined with hoof- mounted inertial sensors . Journal of Equine Veterinary Science , 128 , 104866 . Available from: https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. jevs. 2023. 104866
Hopfgartner , T. , Brown , J.A. , Adams , M.N. & Werre , S.R. ( 2024 ) Comparison of equine paranasal sinus trephination complications and outcome following standing computed tomography, radiogra- phy and sinoscopy guided approaches for the treatment of sinus- itis . Veterinary Surgery , 53 , 54 – 66 . Available from: https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ vsu. 14013
Lightbody , K.L. , Austin , A. , Lambert , P.A. , von Samson- Himmelstjerna , G. , Jürgenschellert , L. , Krücken , J. et al. ( 2024 ) Validation of a serum ELISA test for cyathostomin infection in equines . International Journal for Parasitology , 54 ( 1 ), 23 – 32 . Available from: https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. ijpara. 2023. 07. 001
Magalhaes , H.B. , Colombo , I. , Spencer , K.M. , Podico , G. & Canisso , I.F. ( 2024 ) Conductivity of mammary gland secretions is a sensitive and specific predictor of parturition in mares . Equine Veterinary Journal . Available from: https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ evj. 14070 . Epub ahead of print.
Potter , S.J. , Erdody , M.L. , Bamford , N.J. , Knowles , E.J. , Menzies- Gow , N. , Morrison , P.K. et al. ( 2024 ) Development of a body condition index to estimate adiposity in ponies and horses from morphometric measurements . Equine Veterinary Journal , 56 , 299 – 308 . Available from: https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ evj. 13975
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