Laminitis - What the Scientists Say...

Laminitis: What the Scientist Say...

Finding the answer to laminitis is still proving elusive to scientists around the world.

The venogram is really the key to understanding laminitis, because with the venogram, you can really see how the horse's weight and gravity force is doing in that moment to the blood vessels which bring nutrients to the horses foot.

 So what actually is a venogram?  A venogram is an X-ray of the foot after contrast (which shows up the blood vessels) has been injected into the foot's blood supply, so you can see if there is any blood flow. If an area has no blood flow, it will not receive the nutrients it needs to heal unless the biomechanics of the foot are changed to encourage blood flow to the area. If part or all of the foot continues to have no blood flow, the tissues will die, and the horse will often be put down.

Without the venogram, you are driving in the dark. It is impossible for any of us to clinically evaluate the horse without it. Venograms are to laminitis what radiographs are to bone fractures.

Some vets use an angled block that he stands the horse’s foot on. The block can then change the angle of the foot in a controlled way, then he takes venograms at each angle to see the changes in the blood flow. (see picture)

Knowing how hoof and bone angles affect blood flow can help veterinarians and farriers understand how to modify trimming and shoeing practices to direct blood flow toward areas that are compromised and need healing. 

Learning to Read Radiographs

Reading radiographs takes a trained eye, and it's an important part of evaluating the horse's foot, especially when lameness exists. However it is just one part of the entire examination of the horse including a physical examination, gait analysis, and other diagnostic procedures that require a trained equine veterinarian.

Radiographs measure the following characteristics of each foot on a radiograph:

• Sole depth (SD) is the distance between the bottom of the tip of the coffin bone and the sole surface (pink lines).
• Palmar angle (PA) The green lines show the angle the bottom of the third phalanx makes with the ground surface of the hoof.
• Digital breakover (DB) is the distance along the ground from the tip of the third phalanx bone to the forwardmost point of contact between the shoe and the ground (purple).
• Horn-lamellar zone (HL) is the space between the face of the coffin bone and the outside of the hoof wall (orange).
• Coronary band-extensor process distance (CE) is the distance between the top of the extensor process of the coffin bone and the top of the wall at the coronary band (blue).

There are no shortcuts to examining the foot. You have to methodically learn everything you can about that foot and that horse in order to understand what's going on, what you should do to help it heal, and why your solution will work. 

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