Successful surgical debridement of a cerebral Streptococcus equi equi abscess by parietal bone flap craniotomy in a 2‐month‐old Warmblood foal

Summary Brain abscesses and intracranial masses have been regularly described in horses. Treatment often is difficult and unrewarding and mortality rate high. This case report describes the successful treatment of a cerebral abscess in a 2‐month‐old female Warmblood foal with severe neurological sig...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Equine veterinary education 2019-10, Vol.31 (10), p.e58-e62
Main Authors: Broux, B., van Bergen, T., Schauvliege, S., Vali, Y., Lefère, L., Gielen, I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abscesses
Bone surgery
Brain
brain surgery
Cerebrum
Computed tomography
Edema
equine medicine
Hemispheric laterality
horse
Horses
Parietal bone
strangles
Streptococcus
Surgery
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary Brain abscesses and intracranial masses have been regularly described in horses. Treatment often is difficult and unrewarding and mortality rate high. This case report describes the successful treatment of a cerebral abscess in a 2‐month‐old female Warmblood foal with severe neurological signs of acute onset. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a 3 × 4 × 4 cm cerebral mass in the left brain hemisphere with severe cerebral oedema. Craniotomy, using a parietal bone flap technique, allowed the abscess to be sampled, drained and lavaged. Immediately, post‐surgery the foal showed significant clinical improvement. Sample culture confirmed Streptococcus equi equi infection. The foal was medically treated for 6 weeks, leading to complete clinical and radiographical recovery. Intracranial surgery in equine medicine is limited. Using a parietal bone flap instead of partial craniectomy to gain access to the cerebrum is a less invasive procedure leading to a better aesthetic result and should be considered for the treatment of cerebral masses in the horse.
ISSN:0957-7734
2042-3292
DOI:10.1111/eve.12995