Ultrasonographic findings in horses with right dorsal colitis: five cases (2000-2001).
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether ultrasonography would be useful in the diagnosis of right dorsal colitis in horses.


METHODS
Retrospective study.


METHODS
5 horses with right dorsal colitis and 15 healthy adult horses.


METHODS
Mural thickness and appearance of the right dorsal colon were determined from ultrasonographic images obtained at right intercostal spaces 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.


RESULTS
The right dorsal colon could be imaged most consistently at the right 11th, 12th, and 13th intercostal spaces, below the margin of the lung and axial to the liver. Mural thickness measured from ultrasonographic images was significantly greater in horses with right dorsal colitis than in healthy horses. The right dorsal colon in affected horses had a prominent hypoechoic layer associated with submucosal edema and inflammatory infiltrates. Successful treatment of 1 horse with right dorsal colitis was associated with a decrease in mural thickness coincident with an increase in serum albumin and total protein concentrations and weight gain. A decrease in mural thickness was also observed in a second horse treated for right dorsal colitis that was not associated with healing of the right dorsal colon or an increase in serum albumin concentration but rather thinning of a segment of the right dorsal colon that eventually ruptured.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that ultrasonographic measurement of mural thickness and evaluation of the appearance of the right dorsal colon may be useful in the diagnosis of right dorsal colitis in horses.
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Samuel L
SL
Jones
Jennifer
J
Davis
Kristin
K
Rowlingson
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000009:adverse effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003092:Colitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000662:veterinary*; D003106:Colon / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006736:Horses; D008297:Male; D010653:Phenylbutazone / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D010653:Phenylbutazone