Ll. Couetil et al., Clinical signs, evaluation of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and assessmentof pulmonary function in horses with inflammatory respiratory disease, AM J VET RE, 62(4), 2001, pp. 538-546
Objective-To evaluate the association among clinical signs, results of cyto
logic evaluation of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and measures of pul
monary function in horses with inflammatory respiratory disease.
Animals-9 healthy horses, 5 horses with inflammatory airway disease (IAD),
and 9 horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Procedures-Clinical examination, lung function tests, and BAL were performe
d on each horse.
Results-Standard lung mechanics of horses with exacerbated COPD differed si
gnificantly from those of healthy horses; however, there were few differenc
es among horses with IAD, horses with COPD during remission, and healthy ho
rses. Most variables for forced expiration (FE) in horses with COPD or IAD
differed significantly from those for healthy horses. Results of clinical e
xamination had low to moderate sensitivity and predictive values for a diag
nosis of COPD (range, 67 to 80%). Results of FE tests had high sensitivity,
specificity, and predictive values for a diagnosis of COPD (79 to 100%), a
nd results of standard lung mechanics tests had low sensitivity and predict
ive values (22 to 69%). Percentage of neutrophils in BAL fluid was highly s
ensitive (100%) but moderately specific (64%) for a diagnosis of COPD.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Clinical examination is moderately accur
ate for establishing a diagnosis of COPD. Forced expiration tests can speci
fically detect early signs of airway obstruction in horses with COPD and IA
D that may otherwise be inapparent. Cytologic evaluation of BAL fluid allow
s early detection of inflammatory respiratory disease, but it is not specif
ic for CORD.