Day 8 - Pregnancy diagnosis Flashcards
Methods
- Behavioral assessment
- Vaginal examination
- Hormones (serum, blood)
o Progesterone
o eCG (PMSG = pregnant mare serum gonadotropin)
o Estrogen (blood hormone) - Rectal examination
o Palpation (done by your hand)
o Ultrasound
Behavioral assessment
- 21 days lenght of heat
- Daily testing with stallion
- Put the mare next to a stallion at day 17
- Sexual behavior
Vaginal examination
- At day 18-21
- Check vaginal mm, cervical opening
- Diestrus (after ovulation): CL present, lot of pregosterone, dry mm (high estrogen gives moist mm),
- Check cervical opening, open during heat!
- Proestrus: non-specific
Hormones - progesterone
- Day 18-20
- Under 1, not preggo, over 1 preggo!
- Non-specific
Hormones - eCG (PMCG)
- Day 35 - 120
- Prod by embryonic cups (?)
- False negative (after loss, embryonic cups still remain)
- Before 35 is false negative
Hormones - Estrogen
- Day 12
- Secreted by fetoplacental unit
- Pregnancy diagn. and fetal viability
Rectal palpation - Day 18-20
- Frequently used
- Uterine horn : increased tone
- Cervix: Firm, tightly closed
Rectal palpation - Day 25-30
- Informative
- Close to biforcation, if we feel this = preggo (golf ball)
- Cranioventral side
Rectal palpation - Day 35-40
Tennis ball, close to bifurcation
Rectal palpation - Day 45-50
Soft ball
Ventral uterine wall is thin
Rectal palpation - Day 60-65
Moves to uterine body, football, ventral abd cavity
Rectal palpation - Day 100-120
Fetus felt with ballottement.
Expands more dorsally
Rectal palpation - Day 150 - 210
Pregnancy cannot be detected, feel for ovaries and broad ligament. Ballottement
Rectal palpation - Day 240
Foaling.
Uterus moves dorsally, easy to feel fetus
US day 12
o earliest time to pregnancy check
o The circled black area = presence of embryonic vesicle = yolk sac
US day 20
o Embryo appears in embryonic vesicle
o Brownish area: presence of the embryo
o Embryo ALWAYS detectable and visible on day 20 at the bottom on the vesicle as whiteish greyish structure
US day 24
o HEARTBEAT!
o BmodeUScanbeused
o Could also use Doppler US, but not in this period: Detect fluid flow in the vessels
US day 28
o Embryo is not located at the bottom of the vesicles - starts to move
o Can measure diameter of pregnancy and size of embryo: Embryo around 1 cm long
o Embryo connected to the wall (both R and L) of the embryonic vesicle
US day 30
o Appearance of allantois sac
o But allantois sac becomes larger
because special fluid is accumulated which is produced by embryo, and the allantois sac is a storage place for fluid production: Fluid: urine!
US day 38
Egg yolk has disappears –> energy from mother (from day 30)
US day 41
o The embryo is floating in the allantois sac
o The umbilical cord is forming between the fetus and the pregnant uterine horns
US day 57
o The horizontal cross section of the fetus is lying at the bottom of the uterine horn
o You can see the head and the body of the fetus
Diagnosis of embryonic death - Size of embryonic vesicle
- Day10 – 11:3-4mm
- Day 10 – 16: 3-4 mm/day
- Day 17 – 25: no changes
- Day 25 – 28: 1.8 mm/day
Diagnosis of embryonic death - presence of embryo
- Embryo ultrasonographically visible on day 20 – 21 at the bottom of the uterine horn
- Not visible by day 24 – 26 –> early embryonic mortality
o You can detect embryonic vesicle but no embryo
Diagnosis of embryonic death - Heartbeat
- Day 24 – 25 (earliest period for heartbeat detection)
o Repeated examinations: every 1 – 3 days
o No heartbeat by day 30 - early embryonic death
Diagnosis of embryonic death - Embryo location and orientation
- Day 28 – 30: allantois one half of the vesicle
o Embryo appears at the bottom of the vesicle, moves up and position detected
in the middle - Day 33 – 36: embryo dorsally
- Day 48 – 50: embryo ventrally
- Movement: 6 o ́clock position and 12 o ́clock position and (again) 6 o ́clock position
