Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Imaging diagnosis--Arterial and venous thromboses of the proximal limb in two thoroughbred racehorses.
- Journal:
- Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association
- Year:
- 2010
- Authors:
- Vaughan, Betsy et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
Two Thoroughbred racehorses were found to have blood clots causing lameness in their legs. In the first horse, a clot was found in a vein in the lower leg, while the second horse had clots in several arteries in the upper leg. Doctors used special imaging tests to spot these clots after initially looking for stress fractures. Unfortunately, the first horse developed serious infections and had to be put to sleep, while the cause of the clots in the second horse remains unknown.
Abstract
Thromboses of the cranial tibial vein (Horse 1) and brachial, median, and cranial circumflex humeral arteries (Horse 2) were identified as causes of unilateral lameness in two Thoroughbred racehorses. Nuclear scintigraphy was performed for suspicion of long bone stress fractures but instead allowed identification of unusual areas of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake within soft tissues of the affected limbs. Ultrasonography of these regions allowed identification of occlusive thrombi within a 25 cm length of the cranial tibial vein (Horse 1) and variable lengths of affected arteries in Horse 2. Horse 1 developed secondary infections and was euthanized. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from all sites. The cause of thrombosis was not identified in Horse 2.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20469553/