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Recurrent Airway Obstruction (view source)
Revision as of 12:33, 26 August 2010
, 12:33, 26 August 2010→Laboratory Tests
merck Bronchoalveolar lavage is rarely required for diagnosis of fulminant RAO, and is not innocuous in horses that are dyspneic at rest. It is indicated in horses with mild to moderate disease with poor performance and coughing during exercise. Neutrophilic inflammation (20-90% of total cell count) confirms the presence of lower airway inflammation and differentiates horses with eosinophilic pneumonitis, fungal pneumonia, or lungworm infestation from horses with heaves. Curschmann’s spirals may be observed on cytologic evaluation and represent inspissated mucus/cellular casts from obstructed small airways
merck Bronchoalveolar lavage is rarely required for diagnosis of fulminant RAO, and is not innocuous in horses that are dyspneic at rest. It is indicated in horses with mild to moderate disease with poor performance and coughing during exercise. Neutrophilic inflammation (20-90% of total cell count) confirms the presence of lower airway inflammation and differentiates horses with eosinophilic pneumonitis, fungal pneumonia, or lungworm infestation from horses with heaves. Curschmann’s spirals may be observed on cytologic evaluation and represent inspissated mucus/cellular casts from obstructed small airways
ivis The severity of lung inflammation can be evaluated by cytological evaluation of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF; see chapter by Viel and Hewson for lavage and cytology techniques). In normal horses, lymphocytes and macrophages form the majority of cells in BALF and neutrophils comprise less than ten percent of cells. In horses with RAO or SPAOD, there is an increase in the percentage of neutrophils and, in severely affected animals, neutrophils comprise over 50 percent of cells and are not degenerate. Despite the large number of neutrophils in BALF, there is no evidence of bacterial infection.
===Other Tests===
===Other Tests===