{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/76818"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/76818","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Comparative efficacy of three common treatments for equine recurrent airway obstruction","abstract":"Objective - evaluate horses with acute airway obstruction using three treatment regimens: tapering doses of dexamethasone (DEX), environmental modification (ENV), and a combination of both treatments (DEX + ENV) by analyzing clinical parameters, pulmonary function testing, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology and BALF cell expression of the cytokines IFN-? and IL-4 Animals - 6 horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) Procedures - Clinical examination, pulmonary function test, and collection of BALF prior to treatment and during 22 day treatment period Hypothesis - Alterations in clinical parameters, pulmonary function and airway inflammation in acute equine RAO will return to remission values by treating with DEX, ENV or DEX + ENV Results - All horses demonstrated clinical disease, reduced pulmonary dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and an increased maximum change in pleural pressures (?Pplmax) when in a challenge environment. All treatments improved clinical parameters, ?Pplmax and Cdyn. BALF cytology during an RAO crisis demonstrated neutrophilic inflammation. ENV or DEX + ENV resulted in a significant decrease in airway neutrophilia that was maintained throughout the treatment period. In contrast, treatment with DEX caused a reduction in airway neutrophilia initially followed by a rebound neutrophilia as the period between administrations of dexamethasone (0.05mg/kg) was increased to 72 hours. The rebound neutrophilia was not accompanied by equivalent deterioration in clinical parameters or pulmonary function. Conclusions - Environmental modification is important in the management of RAO horses. Treatment of clinical RAO with a decreasing dosage protocol of corticosteroids in the absence of environmental modification results in the persistence of airway inflammation without recrudescence of clinical disease.","abstract_html":"Objective - evaluate horses with acute airway obstruction using three treatment regimens: tapering doses of dexamethasone (DEX), environmental modification (ENV), and a combination of both treatments (DEX + ENV) by analyzing clinical parameters, pulmonary function testing, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology and BALF cell expression of the cytokines IFN-? and IL-4 Animals - 6 horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) Procedures - Clinical examination, pulmonary function test, and collection of BALF prior to treatment and during 22 day treatment period Hypothesis - Alterations in clinical parameters, pulmonary function and airway inflammation in acute equine RAO will return to remission values by treating with DEX, ENV or DEX + ENV Results - All horses demonstrated clinical disease, reduced pulmonary dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and an increased maximum change in pleural pressures (?Pplmax) when in a challenge environment. All treatments improved clinical parameters, ?Pplmax and Cdyn. BALF cytology during an RAO crisis demonstrated neutrophilic inflammation. ENV or DEX + ENV resulted in a significant decrease in airway neutrophilia that was maintained throughout the treatment period. In contrast, treatment with DEX caused a reduction in airway neutrophilia initially followed by a rebound neutrophilia as the period between administrations of dexamethasone (0.05mg/kg) was increased to 72 hours. The rebound neutrophilia was not accompanied by equivalent deterioration in clinical parameters or pulmonary function. Conclusions - Environmental modification is important in the management of RAO horses. Treatment of clinical RAO with a decreasing dosage protocol of corticosteroids in the absence of environmental modification results in the persistence of airway inflammation without recrudescence of clinical disease.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lee, Laura Caryn"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Veterinary Medical Sciences","degree_department":"Veterinary Medical Sciences","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Zimmerman, Kurt L.","Witonsky, Sharon G.","Buechner-Maxwell, Virginia A."],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-04-17","date_published":"2009-04-17","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:21Z","subjects":["Pulmonary Function Testing","Airway Inflammation","Asthma","Equine Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO)","Equine Heaves","Allergy","Dexamethasone","Environmental Modification","Airway Neutrophilia","Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07102009-190004"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-07102009-190004","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76818","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Zimmerman, Kurt L.","Witonsky, Sharon G.","Buechner-Maxwell, Virginia A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Veterinary Medical Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lee, Laura Caryn"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2017-04-04T19:49:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-04-04T19:49:29Z","2016-10-07"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-04-17"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Veterinary Medical Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Pulmonary Function Testing","Airway Inflammation","Asthma","Equine Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO)","Equine Heaves","Allergy","Dexamethasone","Environmental Modification","Airway Neutrophilia","Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07102009-190004"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76818"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Objective - evaluate horses with acute airway obstruction using three treatment regimens: tapering doses of dexamethasone (DEX), environmental modification (ENV), and a combination of both treatments (DEX + ENV) by analyzing clinical parameters, pulmonary function testing, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology and BALF cell expression of the cytokines IFN-? and IL-4 Animals - 6 horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) Procedures - Clinical examination, pulmonary function test, and collection of BALF prior to treatment and during 22 day treatment period Hypothesis - Alterations in clinical parameters, pulmonary function and airway inflammation in acute equine RAO will return to remission values by treating with DEX, ENV or DEX + ENV Results - All horses demonstrated clinical disease, reduced pulmonary dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and an increased maximum change in pleural pressures (?Pplmax) when in a challenge environment. All treatments improved clinical parameters, ?Pplmax and Cdyn. BALF cytology during an RAO crisis demonstrated neutrophilic inflammation. ENV or DEX + ENV resulted in a significant decrease in airway neutrophilia that was maintained throughout the treatment period. In contrast, treatment with DEX caused a reduction in airway neutrophilia initially followed by a rebound neutrophilia as the period between administrations of dexamethasone (0.05mg/kg) was increased to 72 hours. The rebound neutrophilia was not accompanied by equivalent deterioration in clinical parameters or pulmonary function. Conclusions - Environmental modification is important in the management of RAO horses. Treatment of clinical RAO with a decreasing dosage protocol of corticosteroids in the absence of environmental modification results in the persistence of airway inflammation without recrudescence of clinical disease."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Comparative efficacy of three common treatments for equine recurrent airway obstruction"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Zimmerman, Kurt L.","Witonsky, Sharon G.","Buechner-Maxwell, Virginia A."],"dc:contributor.department":["Veterinary Medical Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Lee, Laura Caryn"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2017-04-04T19:49:29Z"],"dc:date.available":["2017-04-04T19:49:29Z","2016-10-07"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-04-17"],"dc:description.abstract":["Objective - evaluate horses with acute airway obstruction using three treatment regimens: tapering doses of dexamethasone (DEX), environmental modification (ENV), and a combination of both treatments (DEX + ENV) by analyzing clinical parameters, pulmonary function testing, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology and BALF cell expression of the cytokines IFN-? and IL-4 Animals - 6 horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) Procedures - Clinical examination, pulmonary function test, and collection of BALF prior to treatment and during 22 day treatment period Hypothesis - Alterations in clinical parameters, pulmonary function and airway inflammation in acute equine RAO will return to remission values by treating with DEX, ENV or DEX + ENV Results - All horses demonstrated clinical disease, reduced pulmonary dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and an increased maximum change in pleural pressures (?Pplmax) when in a challenge environment. All treatments improved clinical parameters, ?Pplmax and Cdyn. BALF cytology during an RAO crisis demonstrated neutrophilic inflammation. ENV or DEX + ENV resulted in a significant decrease in airway neutrophilia that was maintained throughout the treatment period. In contrast, treatment with DEX caused a reduction in airway neutrophilia initially followed by a rebound neutrophilia as the period between administrations of dexamethasone (0.05mg/kg) was increased to 72 hours. The rebound neutrophilia was not accompanied by equivalent deterioration in clinical parameters or pulmonary function. Conclusions - Environmental modification is important in the management of RAO horses. Treatment of clinical RAO with a decreasing dosage protocol of corticosteroids in the absence of environmental modification results in the persistence of airway inflammation without recrudescence of clinical disease."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-07102009-190004"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76818"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Pulmonary Function Testing","Airway Inflammation","Asthma","Equine Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO)","Equine Heaves","Allergy","Dexamethasone","Environmental Modification","Airway Neutrophilia","Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid"],"dc:title":["Comparative efficacy of three common treatments for equine recurrent airway obstruction"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.dcmitype":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Veterinary Medical Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:21Z"}