Posted: 20th November 2013 | Back to news feed
MORE than 40,000 horses have now been scanned using Hallmarq MRI Equine Scanners.
The number of horses scanned continues to grow rapidly as the benefits of standing MRI are becoming more widely recognised and MRI becomes available in more and more clinics worldwide.
As well as being a milestone for Hallmarq, one French showjumper’s MRI scan has allowed the rider to give her horse the best chance of a successful recovery.
Follow-up studies are common in the Hallmarq Standing Equine MRI as horses are easily scanned without disrupting their training schedules. Despite this, Selle Francais gelding Arthur’s re-examination this October caused quite a stir in the Standing Equine MRI community as it was the 40,000th scan to be conducted in the 10 years Hallmarq has been designing, installing and supporting Standing Equine MRI systems.
An eight-year-old showjumper, Arthur came to Clinique Equine de Livet earlier this year with pain in his front legs, the right one in particular. The vet carried out a clinical examination and observed that Arthur was more lame on a right circle on a hard surface. Nerve blocks subsequently localised the pain to both front feet. The usual radiographs and ultrasound examination did not show a significant abnormality so the vet referred Arthur for an MRI.
The Standing MRI showed that the horse had a few different lesions in his front feet. The right front showed damage to the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) and injuries affecting the distal interphalangeal or coffin joint. The left front also had damage to the DDFT as well as an erosive cystic lesion in the navicular bone.
For these sorts of injuries, time is the best healer. The vet recommended 4 months of rehabilitation with a gradually increasing exercise regime. The first month was strict box rest, then 15 minutes walking a day for one month increasing to 45 minutes walking and trotting in the fourth month.
After the four months the horse showed good signs of improvement. The rider was pleased with R.’s recovery but the vet noticed he was still slightly lame on a right circle on a hard surface. The rider was keen to put Arthur back into full work and return to competition but didn’t want to risk his health if he wasn’t fully recovered. Tendon and ligament injuries can be very disappointing as the horse may appear sound but then become re-injured on a return to work. To give a clear picture of his recovery status Arthur returned to Clinique Equine de Livet for a follow-up scan.
The 40,000th
standing Equine MRI study showed that the months of careful rehabilitation had done their work and Arthur’s injuries had healed well, particularly for the tendonitis of the right foot. The only adverse change was that the erosive cystic lesion had progressed slightly. The vet advised the owner to continue the controlled exercise programme for two months, gradually introducing gallop work. This would make sure that the healed structures could stand up to a full workload. The farrier also gave Arthur egg-bar shoes on both front feet to support his recovery.
“This case particularly shows the importance of rescan examinations for the management of these lesions, which are not easy to treat” said Clinique Equine de Livet vet and Hallmarq customer Matthieu Cousty. In this case, MRI allowed the vets and owner to agree on a rehabilitation plan that would give Arthur the best chance of returning to full health. “Tendonitis of the distal DDFT carries a guarded prognosis but MRI allows better management of cases” continues Cousty. As a direct result of the re-scan the team was able to adapt the exercise programme for the quickest return to fitness without compromising Arthur’s long-term health.
Dr Matthieu Cousty would like to thank Dr Meredith Smith (Newmarket Equine Hospital) for her help interpreting the examinations and Dr Géraud Tourtoulou for the management of this case.
For more information on MRI or to find the nearest practice with a scanner visit www.hallmarq.net.
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