Dataset Information

Sudden death caused by spinal cord injury associated with vertebral fractures and fetlock failure in a Thoroughbred racehorse.

ABSTRACT: The most prevalent causes of death in racehorses are musculoskeletal injuries, causing ~83% of deaths within the racing industry in California and elsewhere. The vast majority of these injuries have preexisting lesions that predispose to fatal injury. A 4-y-old Thoroughbred colt suffered an acute suspensory apparatus failure, including biaxial proximal sesamoid bone fractures of the right front fetlock, causing loss of support of the fetlock joint and consequent fall with fractures of the cervical and sacral spine. Cervical fracture caused spinal cord damage that resulted in sudden death. A preexisting lesion in the medial proximal sesamoid bone likely predisposed to complete fracture of this bone and fetlock breakdown. Interestingly, a comparable osteopenic lesion was present in the intact medial proximal sesamoid bone of the left forelimb, which is consistent with bilateral repetitive overuse injury in racehorses. The morphologic features of the cervical and sacral spine fractures were compatible with acute injury; no evidence of preexisting lesions was seen. Most likely, these acute vertebral fractures occurred as a result of the horse falling. This case emphasizes the importance of performing a detailed autopsy in horses that suffer an appendicular musculoskeletal injury, particularly in fatal cases when the horse dies following a leg injury.

SUBMITTER: Samol MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8229845 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sudden death caused by spinal cord injury associated with vertebral fractures and fetlock failure in a Thoroughbred racehorse.

Samol Monika A MA Uzal Francisco A FA Blanchard Patricia C PC Arthur Rick M RM Stover Susan M SM

Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc 20210527 4

The most prevalent causes of death in racehorses are musculoskeletal injuries, causing ~83% of deaths within the racing industry in California and elsewhere. The vast majority of these injuries have preexisting lesions that predispose to fatal injury. A 4-y-old Thoroughbred colt suffered an acute suspensory apparatus failure, including biaxial proximal sesamoid bone fractures of the right front fetlock, causing loss of support of the fetlock joint and consequent fall with fractures of the cervic ...[more]

PMID: 34041971

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Project description:BackgroundRollover crashes continue to be a substantial public health issue in North America. Previous research has shown that the cervical spine is the most injured spine segment in rollovers, but much of the past research has focused on risk factors rather than the actual cervical spine injuries. We sought to examine how different types of cervical spine injuries (vertebral and/or cord injury) vary with different occupant-related factors in rollovers and to compare these with non-rollovers.MethodsWe obtained crash and injury information from the National Automotive Sampling System-Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) for 2005-2015 and Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS) for 2017-2022. Based on weighted data, we calculated relative risks to assess how occupant sex, seat belt use, ejection status, and fatal outcome relate to the rate of different cervical spine injuries in rollovers and non-rollovers.ResultsIn NASS-CDS occupants with cervical spine injuries (N = 111,040 weighted cases), about 91.5% experienced at least one vertebral injury whereas only 11.3% experienced a spinal cord injury (most of which had a concomitant vertebral fracture). All types of cervical spine injuries we examined were 3.4-5.2 times more likely to occur in rollovers compared to non-rollovers. These relative risks were similar for both sexes, belted and unbelted, non-ejected, and non-fatal occupants. The number of weighted CISS occupants with cervical spine injuries (N = 42,003) was smaller than in the NASS analysis, but cervical spine injuries remained 6.25 to 6.36 times more likely in rollovers compared to non-rollovers despite a more modern vehicle fleet.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the continued need for rollover-specific safety countermeasures, especially those focused on cervical spine injury prevention, and elucidate the frequency, severity and other characteristics of the specific vertebral and spinal cord injuries being sustained in rollovers. Our findings suggest that countermeasures focused on preventing cervical vertebral fractures will also effectively prevent most cervical spinal cord injuries.

Project description:Catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries (CMI) in horses are associated with both too little and too much high-speed exercise. In order to advise trainers on training and management strategies that minimize the risk of musculoskeletal injury (MSI), a better understanding of how training practices affect MSI in racehorses is needed. Data from prospective studies relating training data and MSI are complicated by the gradual development of pathology and the effect of this on the ability of horses to train consistently prior to the identification of an injury. To circumvent this, 66 Australian Thoroughbred trainers were surveyed on their intended training practices, including rest, pre-training, and race-fit practices. Associations between intended training practices and catastrophic and non-catastrophic race day MSI outcomes in two-year-old and mature (≥three-year-old) horses were assessed using multivariable negative binomial regression models. The incidence of two-year-old race day MSI was lower for trainers who preferred shorter times (weeks) to trial, less time in fast work pre-trial (p = 0.003), shorter, more frequent rest periods (p < 0.01) and higher amounts of fast work at 15.5-16.7 m/s once race-fit (p = 0.001). The incidence of mature horse race day MSI was lower for trainers who preferred longer rest periods (p = 0.026) and a high-volume pre-trial training strategy comprising a high volume of slower speed gallop training and longer times to trial compared to fast and light training programs (p = 0.004) for their mature horses, in addition to higher amounts of fast work at 15.5-16.7 m/s for their race-fit two-year-olds (p = 0.012). Race day CMI incidence was lower for trainers who preferred lower volumes of fast gallop work for their race-fit mature horses (p < 0.05). These results suggest that two-year-old training practices could affect MSI risk later in a horse's career, and that age and stage in training (pre-trial, race-fit) are important considerations when developing training practices to minimize the risk of MSI.

Dataset Information

Sudden death caused by spinal cord injury associated with vertebral fractures and fetlock failure in a Thoroughbred racehorse.

Publications

Sudden death caused by spinal cord injury associated with vertebral fractures and fetlock failure in a Thoroughbred racehorse.

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