Neodymium : yttrium aluminum garnet laser ventriculocordectomy in standinghorses

Objective-To develop a technique for neodymium :yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd :YAG) laser ventriculocordectomy in standing horses and document healing in horses undergoing laser ventriculocordectomy. Animals-6 horses between 2 and 32 years old. Procedure-Under endoscopic guidance, the left laryngeal ventricle was evert ed with grasping forceps and excised with an Nd:YAG laser, using 60 watts o f power in a noncontact fashion (6,403 to 9,197 Joules). Following removal of the ventricle, the vocal cord was photoablated. Horses were examined end oscopically 2, 7, 14, 21, 30, and 47 days after ventriculocordectomy, and 1 horse was euthanatized on each of these days. At necropsy, the larynx was removed intact and examined grossly. Samples were collected for histologic examination of the ventriculocordectomy site. Results-Endoscopic examination revealed granulation tissue by day 7, the st art of epithelialization by day 21, and healing by day 47. At necropsy, 4 h orses were found to have a small amount of ventricular mucosa remaining dor sally and 1 additional horse was found to have a mucocele. Granulation tiss ue was identified grossly and histologically in the horses euthanatized bet ween 7 and 30 days after surgery. Incipient reepithelialization was evident histologically on day 14, and complete reepithelialization of the surgery site was evident by day 47. Conclusion and Clinical Relevance-Results suggest that ventriculocordectomy can safely be performed with an Nd:YAG laser in standing horses.