Clinical features in 15 newborn foals with severe nutritional myodegeneration

peer reviewedCLINICAL FEATURES IN 15 NEWBORN FOALS WITH SEVERE NUTRITIONAL MYODEGENERATION Corradini I, Armengou L, Cesarini C, Jose-Cunilleras E, Monreal L Servei de Medicina Interna Equina, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterina`ria, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Introduction/Objectives: Nutritional myodegeneration (NMD) is a disease associated with selenium and a-tocopherol deficient diets that can affect foals. The objective of the present study was to report the clinical and clinicopathological findings, treatments and outcome of a group of newborn foals severely affected with NMD from some farms with previous dietary changes. Methods: Newborn foals admitted to the Equine Teaching Hospital of Barcelona between January 2007 and June 2008, with a diagnosis of NMD, were included. Results: A total of 15 newborn foals (mean SD age, 26.9 17.3 hours) from 3 different farms were included. The most common clinical findings on presentation were severe weakness with pigmenturia. Neonates had a marked increase in plasma muscle enzymes activities (medians, CK 5 160,700 IU/L and AST 5 7,695 IU/L), together with severe hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, and metabolic acidosis. Five neonates died and the other 10 had a rapid recovery. Histopathologic findings from nonsurvivors confirmed NMD. Discussion: Cases reported herein correspond to neonates (less than 2 days of age) from 3 different farms in an area with no history of the disease, 2 of which confirmed changes on dams’ diet during pregnancy. The main clinical findings were severe weakness and pigmenturia, together with marked increases in plasma muscle enzymes activities and severe electrolyte and acid-base imbalances. In our population all affected foals were neonates with severe weakness and metabolic derangements. Conclusions: NMD should be included in the list of differential diagnoses in newborn foals presenting for weakness also in regions where the disease is not endemi