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Recurrent Airway Obstruction (view source)
Revision as of 12:32, 26 August 2010
, 12:32, 26 August 2010→Other 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
==Other Tests==
===Other Tests===
Reduction of
Reduction of
confirms the presence of bronchospasm. This ‘test’ is
confirms the presence of bronchospasm. This ‘test’ is
best performed using intravenous atropine.
best performed using intravenous atropine.
ivis Reduction of respiratory distress after administration of a bronchodilator confirms the presence of bronchospasm, the major cause of airway obstruction in heaves. Intravenous atropine (0.02 mg/kg) should relieve respiratory distress within 15 minutes in a horse with RAO or SPAOD. A single atropine dose is safe but, the dose should not be repeated or there is a risk of intestinal stasis. In rare cases, horses with chronic interstitial pulmonary disease will present with classical signs of RAO but these animals will not respond to a bronchodilator.
===Pathology===
===Pathology===