title: Clinical Research Abstracts of the British Equine Veterinary Association Congress 2015.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In cases of laminitis, an increased muscle force or contracture of the deep digital flexor muscle (DDFM) is suggested, but evidence-based research is lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test if the DDFM of laminitic equines shows an increased muscle force detectable by needle-EMG including Interference Pattern Analysis (IPA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three groups consisted of Group 0 (control): 6 Royal Dutch Sport horses, 3 Shetland ponies and one Welsh pony (healthy, sound adults, mean ± s.d. weight 411 ± 217 kg). Group 1: 3 Royal Dutch Sport horses, one Friesian, one Haflinger, one Icelandic horse, 2 Welsh ponies, one miniature Appaloosa and 6 Shetland ponies (adults, mean ± s.d. weight 310 ± 172 kg) suffering from acute or chronic laminitis. EMG measurements including firing frequency (F) and IPA parameters Turns/Second (T), Amplitude/Turn (M) and Ratio M/T (R) were performed. ANOVA was used to analyse data. P values of P<0.05 were considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean ± s.d. F of Group 0 and Group 1 was 53 ± 11 and 72 ± 21 Hz, mean ± s.d. T was 112 ± 57 and 106 ± 42, mean ± s.d. M was 284 ± 51 and 254 ± 38 μV and mean ± s.d. R was 0.39 ± 0.17 and 0.42 ± 0.16%, respectively. The firing frequency of Group 1 was significantly higher compared to Group 0 (P = 0.02), whereas other differences were not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In human medicine, an increased firing frequency is a characteristic of increased muscle force [1,2]. Thus, the increased firing frequency of the DDFM in case of laminitis suggests an elevated muscle force. As all parameters show a high variance, a repeated study including a larger test group is advised. Ethical animal research: Data collection from controls was approved by the Animal Welfare Committee of Utrecht University, approval number 2008.III.07.061 and 2013.III.01.012. Clinical cases were privately owned and written owner consent was obtained.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  None. Competing interests: None declared.
authors.affiliation: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|De Klomp Veterinarians, De Klomp 4, 6745 WB, De Klomp, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Hardeman
authors.affiliation: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: van der Meij
authors.affiliation: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Surgery and Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Back
authors.affiliation: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Euregio Laboratory Services, Section Equine Metabolic and Genetic Diseases, Stadionplein 46, 6225 XW, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Division of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Swiss Institute for Equine Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: van der Kolk
authors.affiliation: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Wijnberg