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EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION


Equine vet. Educ. (2022) 34 (11) 562-563 doi: 10.1111/eve.13715


Highlights of recent clinically relevant papers


Equine cannabinoid receptors This ex vivo experimental study by Ludovic Miagkoff and co- workers in Canada aimed to assess the presence and expression pattern of cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 in the synovium of healthy joints. The relationship between the CB expression, degree of synovitis and osteoarthritis (OA) pathology was also explored. Metacarpophalangeal joints (n = 25) were dissected, and


the articular cartilage lesions were scored. Synovial membrane specimens (n = 45) were harvested, fixed and the degree of synovitis was graded on histological sections. Co- localised synovial sections were immunostained with antibodies to CB1 and CB2. Five regions of interest (ROIs) were randomly selected from digital images of manually segmented synovial intima and scored blindly for positive cellular immunoreactive staining by two independent observers. Interobserver agreement was calculated with an intraclass correlation coefficient. Relationships between CB1 and CB2 immunoreactive scores and synovitis or joint OA grade were explored. CB1 was expressed in synovial intimal cells in all


specimens studied, whereas CB2 expression was identified in 94%. Both receptors were also expressed in the subintimal blood vessel walls. Interobserver agreements were 84.6% (CB1) and 92.9% (CB2) for the immunoreactivity scores. Both CB1 and CB2 expression were significantly upregulated with increasing degree of synovitis. Conversely, CB1 expression significantly decreased with increasing severity of OA. Equine synovial intimal cells constitutively express both


CB1 and CB2 receptors that are upregulated with synovitis and may have a role in joint pain. They are potential targets for therapy with cannabinoid molecules or their derivatives


CT of rib fractures in neonatal foals


In this retrospective cohort study Katherine Garrett and co- workers at the University of Kentucky, USA, compared ultrasonographic and computed tomographic findings in neonatal foals prior to surgical repair of rib fractures as well as postoperative outcomes in foals with and without preoperative thoracic computed tomography (CT). Medical records of 43 neonatal foals undergoing surgical


treatment of rib fractures between 2013 and 2021 were reviewed for age, sex, delivery method, comorbidities, presurgical anaesthetic time, surgical time, number and location of fractured ribs identified with ultrasound and CT, number and location of ribs surgically repaired, survival to discharge, and post-mortem findings. Statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square, Fisher’s exact and t-tests. Twenty-two foals underwent surgical repair of rib fractures


after preoperative CT and 21 foals were anaesthetised (20 underwent repair) for surgical repair of rib fractures without preoperative CT. Ultrasound and CT findings differed in number and location of fractured ribs in 13/17 (76%) foals. More cranially positioned ribs were identified as fractured with CT than with ultrasonography. Survival to discharge was


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improved when foals underwent CT (20/22, 91%) than when they did not (12/20, 60%). Ultrasound findings differed from CT findings in most foals.


Foals evaluated with CT were more likely to survive to hospital discharge. Prior to surgical repair of rib fractures in neonatal foals, CT is recommended when available.


Pneumonia in nonracing horses


In this study, Ariana Rahman and co-workers in the United States investigated pneumonia in nonracing horses in California.


Nonracing horses that died with pulmonary lesions


(n = 156) were available from cases submitted for autopsy over a 6-year period. Bronchopneumonia (35%), interstitial pneumonia (29%), embolic pneumonia (21%), granulomatous pneumonia (13%) and pleuritis (2%) were observed in the examined horses. Seventy-four horses died or were subjected to euthanasia because of pulmonary diseases, and 82 horses died or were subjected to euthanasia due to nonpulmonary causes but had lung lesions. Of the horses that died from pulmonary causes, the most common finding was bronchopneumonia, with abscesses and/or necrosis in the cranioventral aspect of the lung. Bacteria isolated from cases of bronchopneumonia were Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (48.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (12.1%) and Actinobacillus equuli subsp. haemolyticus (9.1%). The most common extrapulmonary lesions responsible for death in horses that also had lesions in the lung were mainly in the gastrointestinal system (30%), multiple systems (septicaemia and/or toxaemia; 27%) and musculoskeletal system (12%). The main post-mortem findings in cases of


bronchopneumonia of nonracing horses were similar to those reported previously in racehorses. However, some nonracing horses also had interstitial and granulomatous pneumonia, patterns not described previously in racehorses in California, likely because of the inclusion of extended age categories for nonracing horses. The equine lung was frequently affected in cases of sepsis and gastrointestinal problems of infectious origin.


Tenoscopic surgery of the DFTS


In this retrospective case series, Andrea Cender and co- workers in Germany reported the diagnosis and outcome following tenoscopic surgery of the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) in German sports and pleasure horses. The aims of this study were to (1) describe the prevalence


of lesions associated with lameness caused by nonseptic DFTS tenosynovitis in a large population of German sports and pleasure horses; (2) determine the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic imaging techniques for identifying lesions within the DFTS; (3) explore associations between tenoscopically diagnosed lesions and signalment, purpose and limb affected; and (4) describe the outcome following DFTS tenoscopy with nonseptic DFTS tenosynovitis in this population. Medical records of horses admitted for tenoscopic surgery of nonseptic DFTS tenosynovitis between 2011 and 2020 were

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