Equine asthma Flashcards

1
Q

What do areas of dullness within the lung fields suggest?

A

Suggesting pleural effusion or pulmonary consolidation/abscessation/masses

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2
Q

What could abnormal lung sounds suggest?

A
  • Large airway sounds suggesting consolidation
  • Wheezes and crackles suggesting airway narrowing, or discharges in airways
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3
Q

What does a tracheal rattle suggest?

A

Suggesting discharge pooling at the thoracic inlet

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4
Q

Causes of asthsma in foals?

A
  • Infectious causes (usually bacterial)
  • Congenital abnormality
  • Sepsis, trauma, other
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5
Q

Causes of asthsma in weanlings?

A

Infectious causes (often bacterial but also parasites) & contagious

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6
Q

Causes of asthsma in adults?

A
  • Disease of young adults
    • EQUINE ASTHMA SYNDROME
      • Infectious causes (bacterial and viral and mycoplasma)
    • Young racehorses 4-5 years where they will develop equine asthma
  • Disease of old horses
    • EQUINE ASTHMA SYNDROME
    • Mature horse will suffer from an infectious form of equine asthma too
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7
Q

Clinical signs of equine asthma?

A
  • Chronic cough
  • Excess respiratory mucus production
  • Poor performance
  • Systemically healthy
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8
Q

How can you tell between Equine Asthma Syndrome and equine flu?

A
  • Equine asthma horses will be otherwise systemically healthy
  • With equine flu will be generally unwell
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9
Q

Which horses tend to get Recurrent Airway Obstruction?

A

Older horse (typically 8+)

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10
Q

Signs of Recurrent Airway Obstruction?

A
  • Chronic (don’t recover and need long term environmental management)
  • poor performance to overt signs of respiratory dysfunction
    • expiratory effort
  • with/without coughing
  • Nasal discharge
  • hypertrophy of the abdominal muscles (heave line in the abdominal muscles)
  • Previous episodes, worsening over the years
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11
Q

Which horses tend to get inflammatory airway disease?

A

Any age, but typically younger horses

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12
Q

Clinical signs of inflammatory airway disease?

A
  • Recover
  • Rarely have snotty nose, don’t cough as much, typically present just with exercise intolerance
  • A non-specific response to dust etc. in the environment, not infection or hypersensitivity
  • Often subclinical – poor performance
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13
Q

What is equine asthma an umbrella term for?

A
  • Recurrent airway obstruction
  • Inflammatory airway disease
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14
Q

Indications for cytology?

A
  • Horses that relapse
  • Do not respond to therapy
    • Check you have the right diagnosis
  • Do not respond to management change
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15
Q

How would you sample for cytology?

A
  • Tracheal wash (endoscopic)
  • Trans-tracheal wash
  • Bronchoalvealor lavage
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16
Q

Results of a tracheal wash in a recurrent airway obstruction case?

A
  • Tracheal wash neutrophilia
  • BALF will show at least 20% Neutrophils
  • +++Mucus
17
Q

Results of a tracheal wash in an inflammatory airway disease case?

A
  • TW: Increased mucus
  • Neutrophilia??
  • BALF
    • >5% neutrophils <20%
    • > 2% Mast cells <5%
    • >1% Eosinophils <5%
18
Q

Management of recurrent airway obstruction?

A
  • Environment
    • Remove allergens and particles from airway
    • Improves ventilation
    • Remove dusty bedding and hay
  • Control inflammation
    • Proven benefit
  • Brochodilators
  • Corticosteroids
  • Mast-cell stabilizers
    • During remission
19
Q

Management of inflammatory airway disease?

A
  • Environment
    • Remove irritants
    • Remove dusty bedding and hay
  • Control inflammation
    • Anecdotally helpful
    • Corticosteroids
  • Brochodilators
    • Not useful (limited constriction)
  • Mast-cell stabilizers
    • Reduce mast cells in BALF
20
Q

Effects of Beta-agonists (Clenbuterol)?

A
  • Bronchodilators
    • Activates the SNS and opens up the airways
  • Must be combined with environmental control
21
Q

How are Mucolytic agents used?

A
  • Often used at the same time as clenbuterol
  • Helps to clear mucus, which is trapping the aerosols
  • If not much mucus probably not worth using as quite expensive too
22
Q

How useful are Mast Cell Stabilizers?

A
  • Only useful for horses IN REMISSION
  • Prevent disease
  • Don’t work if the horse is showing clinical signs at the time
23
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of nebulised bronchodilators?

A
  • Rapid onset of effect
  • Reduced systemic effects
  • But still absorbed and therefore detectable in blood
    • So affects ability to compete
24
Q

How do Parasympatholytics work?

A
  • Inhibit main bronchoconstriction pathway
    • Vago-vagal effects
  • Systemic side effects limit use
    • Reserve for respiratory distress
    • Will affect GI motility
25
Q

What is Ipratropium Bromide, and what is its use?

A
  • Inhaled parasympatholytic
  • Nonselective muscarinic antagonist (like atropine)
  • Also inhibits cough
  • Little systemic uptake
  • Duration 4 – 6 hours so a drug to give just before the animal goes out for exercise (but not before competing)
26
Q

Side effects of corticosteroids?

A
  • SUPPRESSION OF ADRENAL FUNCTION
  • IMMUNOSUPRESSION
  • LAMINITIS
27
Q

Benefits of inhaled corticosteroids?

A
  • Local administration
    • Reduced systemic side effects
  • Rapid onset of effects
    • 24 hours after admin
  • Taper dose to minimal effective
  • But - May require systemic corticosteroids initially
28
Q

Which inhaled corticosteroid do we tend to use?

A
  • Beclomethasone - we tend to use based again on the fact it is cheaper
  • Fluticasone is more potent but a lot more expensive
29
Q

Why does therapy fail?

A
  • Wrong diagnosis
  • Not combined with environmental control
  • Beta Receptor down-regulation
    • Occurs after 2-4 weeks
    • Can be offset by combination with corticosteroid
30
Q

Management of the relapsing case?

A
  • Rule out secondary bacteria
  • Tracheal wash / BALF cytology
  • Transtracheal culture
    • Must be combined with cytology
    • Care when interpreting bacterial culture