Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia in a quarter horse foal.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary internal medicine
- Year:
- 1997
- Authors:
- Buechner-Maxwell, V et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 1-day-old Quarter Horse foal was taken to a veterinary clinic because it had a very low platelet count, which is important for blood clotting. Tests showed that the mare's blood contained antibodies that were attacking the foal's platelets, and these same antibodies were also found to affect the foal's older brother. This situation indicates that the foal has a condition called neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, which is when a newborn's immune system mistakenly targets its own platelets due to antibodies from the mother. The researchers suggest that this condition can happen in horses, and it should be considered when a foal has a low platelet count and other causes have been ruled out. The treatment and outcome details were not specified in the study.
Abstract
Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia is recognized as a spontaneous disease of human infants, piglets, and possibly mules, but it has not been previously reported in horses. A 1-day-old Quarter Horse foal presented to Michigan State University Large Animal Clinic with severe thrombocytopenia of unknown origin. Immunoglobulins that bound to the foal's platelets were identified in the mare's plasma, serum, and milk by indirect assays. The immunoglobulins were further shown to recognize platelets from the foal's full brother, born 1 year earlier. These findings, coupled with the clinical course of the foal during its period of hospitalization, strongly suggest that neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia can spontaneously occur in neonatal horses. This diagnosis should be considered for foals with severe thrombocytopenia when other causes can be excluded, and platelet antibody assays should be used to support this diagnosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9348499/