Equine Dysautonomia

Bruce C McGorum; R Scott Pirie

doi:10.1016/j.cveq.2017.11.010

Equine Dysautonomia

Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract. 2018 Apr;34(1):113-125. doi: 10.1016/j.cveq.2017.11.010. Epub 2018 Feb 3.

Authors

Bruce C McGorum¹, R Scott Pirie²

Affiliations

¹ The Dick Vet Equine Hospital, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Easter Bush, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, GBR. Electronic address: bruce.mcgorum@ed.ac.uk.
² The Dick Vet Equine Hospital, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Easter Bush, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, GBR.

PMID: 29398183
DOI: 10.1016/j.cveq.2017.11.010

Abstract

Equine dysautonomia (ED; also known as equine grass sickness) is a neurological disease of unknown cause, which primarily affects grazing adult horses. The clinical signs reflect degeneration of specific neuronal populations, predominantly within the autonomic and enteric nervous systems, with disease severity and prognosis determined by the extent of neuronal loss. This review is primarily focused on the major clinical decision-making processes in relation to ED, namely, (1) clinical diagnosis, (2) selection of appropriate ancillary diagnostic tests, (3) obtaining diagnostic confirmation, (4) selection of treatment candidates, and (5) identifying appropriate criteria for euthanasia.

Keywords: Chromatolysis; Dysautonomia; Enteric nervous system; Grass sickness; Ileus.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Horse Diseases / diagnosis*
Horse Diseases / microbiology
Horse Diseases / pathology
Horses
Primary Dysautonomias / diagnosis
Primary Dysautonomias / microbiology
Primary Dysautonomias / pathology
Primary Dysautonomias / veterinary*