engleski

Heaves or recurrent airway obstruction in a horse, a case report

Introduction: Heaves is a clinical condition associated with respiratory signs of chronic cough, loud abnormal breath sounds and expiratory dyspnea in older horses. It is a nonseptic, inflammatory disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and reversible airway obstruction due to bronchospasm. The novel synonym “recurrent airway obstruction“ underlines the latter. Since it has somewhat similar clinical presentation and pathogenesis it is commonly compared to and proposed as an animal model of human asthma. Case description: A 25 years old, Croatian coldblood mare with chronic respiratory signs (cough, dispnea) was euthanized due to poor condition, suffering and old age and submitted to our necropsy room. Beside the fact that the animal was emaciated and anemic, most striking lesions were found in the respiratory system. Lungs were severely and diffusely enlarged (emphysematous) – evident by visible rib impressions. Small, usually marginal foci of atelectasis were also present within lung parenchyma. Microscopic lesions consisted of neutrophilic bronchiolitis affecting principally small bronchioles, accompanied by mucus plugging, goblet cell hyperplasia and mild peribronchiolar smooth muscle hyperplasia. Lesions on alveoli were reduced to alveolar hyperinflation with rare alveolar septa rupture and hence development of emphysema and mild focal edema or atelectasis. Conclusion: Case presented is a textbook example of heaves. Even though clinical data are most of the time sufficient to come to diagnosis, macroscopic and microscopic findings definitely prove this condition, and allow assessment of the severity of the underlying lesions.

heaves; horse; asthma

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