Effects of pulmonary abscesses on racing performance of horses treated at referral veterinary medical teaching hospitals: 45 cases (1985-1997).
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether results of physical or radiographic examination or biochemical analyses in adult racehorses with primary lung abscesses were associated with ability to race following treatment.


METHODS
Multiple-center retrospective study.


METHODS
25 Standardbreds and 20 Thoroughbreds.


METHODS
Medical records of horses with a primary lung abscess that were admitted to any of 4 veterinary teaching hospitals were reviewed. Results of physical examination, laboratory testing, and thoracic radiography were reviewed. Racing performance after treatment was compared with performance before illness and with performance of the general population of racehorses of similar age, sex, and breed.


RESULTS
23 of 25 Standardbreds and 13 of 20 Thoroughbreds raced after diagnosis and treatment of a lung abscess. Most horses had a solitary abscess in the dorsal to caudodorsal lung fields. Results of initial physical examination, biochemical analyses, and culture and identification of the microbial isolate were not associated with whether a horse returned to racing. For horses that had raced prior to the illness, race performance after treatment of the lung abscess was not significantly different from performance before the illness.


CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of racing performance in those horses that resumed racing after treatment, long-term residual lung damage did not develop in horses with primary lung abscesses that were treated appropriately. It is not known whether horses that recovered would be more likely to bleed from the site of a prior infection when resuming strenuous exercise and whether lung abscesses contributed to a failure to resume racing.
Ainsworth
D M
DM
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Erb
H N
HN
Eicker
S W
SW
Yeagar
A E
AE
Viel
L
L
Sweeney
C R
CR
Lavoie
J P
JP
D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D005260:Female; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006736:Horses; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D008169:Lung Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000662:veterinary; D011859:Radiography; D011996:Records / Q000662:veterinary; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012420:Running; D013177:Sports; D016896:Treatment Outcome