Objective—To evaluate the use of CT and MRI for guidance of osteochondral sample collection for histologic detection of early osteoarthritic lesions in centrodistal (distal intertarsal) joints of horses.
Sample —Right tarsal joints from the cadavers of 24 Icelandic horses aged 29 to 31 months.
Aquatic therapy has become increasingly popular in its use for rehabilitation of equine musculoskeletal injuries. Unfortunately, there has been no scientific evaluation of its clinical application for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) or associated musculoskeletal injuries in horses. The purpose of this review is to describe mechanisms of action of aquatic therapy and its potential use in the clinical management of equine OA.
Objective: To assess the synovial fibrinolytic pathway activation in adult horses with developmental and degenerative arthropathies such as osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) and osteoarthritis (OA) by measuring synovial D-dimer concentrations. Methods: Prospective observational clinical study of horses admitted for OCD or OA.Synovial fluid was collected during lameness examination or prior to the surgical procedure, and D-dimer concentration and routine synovial fluid analysis were performed. Results: Fifty-eight horses (14 with OCD, 10 with OA and 34 controls) were included in this study.
Objective—To use microarray analysis to identify genes that are differentially expressed in horses with experimentally induced osteoarthritis.
Animals—24 horses.
Objective—To develop an in vitro model of cartilage injury in full-thickness equine cartilage specimens that can be used to simulate in vivo disease and evaluate treatment efficacy.
Sample—15 full-thickness cartilage explants from the trochlear ridges of the distal aspect of the femur from each of 6 adult horses that had died from reasons unrelated to the musculoskeletal system.
Objective—To determine whether a single contusive impact injury to the palmar aspect of the metacarpus would progress to post-traumatic osteoarthritis or palmar osteochondral disease in horses.
Animals—12 horses.
Reasons for performing this study: Intra-articular ethanol has been described to promote distal tarsal joint ankylosis. Its use and results in clinical cases affected by osteoarthritis (OA) have not been reported.
Objectives: To describe and evaluate the results of treatment of distal tarsal joint OA by facilitated ankylosis stimulated by intra-articular ethanol injection.
Reasons for performing study: Lyophilised products from green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus[LPPC]) are used to orally treat horses with osteoarthritis (OA). However, no randomised, controlled or double-blinded studies on the efficacy of this treatment in horses have been reported to date.
Objective: To investigate the effects of a unique LPPC (Biolane)1 in improving clinical signs of OA in the fetlock.
Objective—To generate data on the effects of firocoxib administration to horses with osteoarthritis.
Animals—Client-owned horses with signs of lameness and joint pain associated with osteoarthritis.
Procedures—Firocoxib was administered as an oral paste (0.1 mg/kg, q 24 h) for 14 days. Assessments were performed on day 0 (baseline) and days 7 and 14.
Objective—To assess clinical, radiographic, histologic, and biochemical effects of sodium pentosan polysulfate (NaPPS) administered IM for treatment of experimentally induced osteoarthritis in horses.
Animals—18 horses.