A SURVEY OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES IN HORSES

Case records of 450 horses with signs of neurological disease are revi ewed. One hundred and nineteen horses with neurological disease due to trauma were examined, of which 60 were due to spinal cord trauma, 47 to brain or cranial nerve trauma and 12 to peripheral nerve trauma. Ce rvical vertebral fractures/trauma were the most common injury. Basisph enoid/basioccipital bone fractures were the most common form of crania l trauma and facial nerve paralysis the most common cranial nerve inju ry. Eighty-nine horses with neurological disease due to malformation w ere examined. Cervical vertebral malformation occurred in 83 horses an d congenital defects in 6 foals. Neurological disease due to inflammat ion or infection occurred in 30 horses. The most common disease of thi s type was meningitis, which occurred in 11 horses and foals. Neoplasm s in the CNS caused neurological disease in 8 horses. The final catego ry was miscellaneous neurological disease, which was diagnosed in 204 horses. Diseases in this category included neonatal (28 cases), toxic/ metabolic (27 cases), idiopathic (133 cases), degenerative (3 cases) a nd other neurological diseases (13 cases). The most common condition w as idiopathic laryngeal hemiplegia (116 cases). Where possible, diagno sis relled on a thorough neurological examination with use of ancillar y tests in selected cases including rhinolaryngoscopy, radiography, my elography, ophthalmoscopy and cerebrospinal fluid analysis when indica ted. In many cases necropsy and histopathological confirmation or diag nosis was necessary.