Uterine Cysts - Horses
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Also Known As – Endometrial cysts – Glandular cysts – Lymphatic lacunar cysts
Introduction
There are two types of uterine cyst recognised in the horse:
1) Endometrial glandular cysts – 5-10mm in size and the result of fibrosis around endometrial glands.
2) Lymphatic lacuna cysts – >1cm in diameter, can be several cm, caused by lymphangiectasia.
Uterine cysts can complicate pregnancy diagnosis, particularly when scanning for [Twin Pregnancies – Horses|twin pregnancies]]
Distribution
Signalment
Mare older than 11 years of age are most likely to have cysts.[1]
Clinical Signs
Significance of uterine cysts is often difficult to assess due to many contributing factors on fertility.
Pregnancy loss is usually between 22 and 44 days of gestation, due to interference with embryo mobility and maternal recognition of pregnancy.[1]
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is usually made by rectal palpation or trans-rectal ultrasound scanning. Ultrasonographically, cysts appear as fluid filled cavities that may be spherical or long and oval in shape and may be septated into cavities.[2]
Hysteroscopy can also be used and is particularly useful for very small cysts.
Cysts must be differentiated from twin pregnancies when ultrasound scanning pregnant mares. If any doubt is present, the mare should be rescanned after 2-3 days, after which time a conceptus would have undergone a detectable increase in size and likely also changed location if during the motile phase. Mapping cyst locations prior to breeding is very useful.
Treatment
Multiple treatment modalities are described for uterine cysts including mechanical curettage, manual rupture by hand or via endometrial biopsy forceps, hysteroscopic rupture using forceps, electrocoagulation and laser ablation. All have been used with success and availability of equipment, personnel and cyst size should be used to determine which modality is most appropriate.
Control
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References
Haskell, S (2008) Blackwell’s Five-Minute Veterinary Consult:Ruminant. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, p.
Lavoie, J-P., Hinchcliff, K. W (2008) Blackwell’s Five-Minute Veterinary Consult: Equine 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, pp.
Merck Veterinary Manual, , accessed online 24/07/2011 at