Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Role of transcranial magnetic stimulation in differentiating motor nervous tract disorders from other causes of recumbency in four horses and one donkey.
- Journal:
- The Veterinary record
- Year:
- 2005
- Authors:
- Nollet, H et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Biology of Large Animals
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In this study, researchers used a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation to check the nerve pathways in four horses and one donkey that were lying down and unable to get up. They found that two of the animals had issues with their nerve pathways. One horse had a fracture in its neck that was confirmed with X-rays, while another horse had nerve damage caused by an abscess pressing on the nerves in its neck. The other three animals had normal nerve function, and their inability to stand was due to conditions like laminitis (inflammation of the hoof), rhabdomyolysis (muscle damage), and physitis (inflammation of the growth plate). Overall, the treatment helped identify the underlying issues, leading to appropriate diagnoses for each animal.
Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation and measurement of the magnetic motor-evoked potentials (MMEPs) in the thoracic and pelvic limbs of four recumbent horses and one recumbent donkey were used to assess the integrity of the descending motor pathways, in order to confirm or exclude a descending motor tract lesion as the cause of the recumbency. In two of the animals abnormal MMEPs were recorded; in one of the horses a lesion along the cervical spinal cord due to a fracture of the fifth cervical vertebra was diagnosed and confirmed by radiography and postmortem examination; in another horse, damage to the peripheral nerves of the left forelimb was diagnosed and confirmed postmortem when a large abscess was found to have been compressing the peripheral nerves at the level of the last cervical vertebra. In the three other animals, normal MMEPs were recorded, and laminitis, rhabdomyolysis and physitis were diagnosed as the causes of the recumbency.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16299367/