Work

Radiographic area of large intestinal sand accumulation in horses may determine clinical significance

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background Sand enteropathy is a common disease in horses worldwide. The presence of sand does not always cause disease. The amount of sand required to cause clinical disease is not well established. Objectives To establish a weight‐indexed cut‐off for the diagnosis of clinically relevant sand enteropathy based on radiographic area. Study design Cross‐sectional. Methods Abdominal radiographs were acquired from clinically normal horses and compared with horses with clinical sand enteropathy. Sand area and sand area per kilogram of body weight were calculated. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to differentiate groups. Results Seventy clinically normal horses and 57 sand enteropathy cases were included. Median sand area in control horses was 1 cm 2 per 100 kg (interquartile range 0–6 cm 2 per 100 kg), and in sand enteropathy horses was 118 cm 2 per 100 kg (interquartile range 83–180 cm 2 per 100 kg). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that using a cut‐off of 21 cm 2 per 100 kg had a sensitivity of 98.25% (CI 90.71%–99.1%) and a specificity of 92.54% (CI 83.69%–96.77%) for a diagnosis of clinical sand enteropathy. Conclusions A weight‐based cut‐off of >21 cm 2 per 100 kg for the diagnosis of sand enteropathy was determined with excellent sensitivity and good specificity. This may aid in determining if the amount of sand accumulation in a horse is of clinical consequence.

Source: Australian Veterinary Journal

DOI: 10.1111/avj.70007

Authors: IG Entwisle, DP Byrne, GD Lester, EJ McConnell

Institution: Murdoch University

Language: English

Topic: Veterinary Equine Medical Research

Subfield: Equine

Field: Veterinary

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,400