Contrast radiography performed at the same time as intrathecal analgesia provides useful information regarding the presence of MF tears and DDFT tears, which can assist in the decision of whether to manage the lameness conservatively or with tenoscopic evaluation.

BackgroundReproducible and accurate recognition of presence and severity of ataxia in horses with neurologic disease is important when establishing a diagnosis, assessing response to treatment, and making recommendations that might influence rider safety or a decision for euthanasia.ObjectivesTo determine the reproducibility and validity of the gait assessment component in the neurologic examination of horses.AnimalsTwenty‐five horses referred to the Royal Veterinary College Equine Referral Hospital for neurological assessment (n = 15), purchased (without a history of gait abnormalities) for an unrelated study (n = 5), or donated because of perceived ataxia (n = 5).MethodsUtilizing a prospective study design; a group of board‐certified medicine (n = 2) and surgery (n = 2) clinicians and residents (n = 2) assessed components of the equine neurologic examination (live and video recorded) and assigned individual and overall neurologic gait deficit grades (0–4). Inter‐rater agreement and assessment‐reassessment reliability were quantified using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC).ResultsThe ICCs of the selected components of the neurologic examination ranged from 0 to 0.69. “Backing up” and “recognition of mistakes over obstacle” were the only components with an ICC > 0.6. Assessment‐reassessment agreement was poor to fair. The agreement on gait grading was good overall (ICC = 0.74), but poor for grades ≤ 1 (ICC = 0.08) and fair for ataxia grades ≥ 2 (ICC = 0.43). Clinicians with prior knowledge of a possible gait abnormality were more likely to assign a grade higher than the median grade.Conclusion and Clinical ImportanceClinicians should be aware of poor agreement even between skilled observers of equine gait abnormalities, especially when the clinical signs are subtle.

Summary Progressive haematomata (PH) are a rare cause of equine paranasal sinusitis and are thought to result from recurrent haemorrhage within the respiratory submucosa of the ethmoidal labyrinth. Clinical signs of PH are variable but mostly attributable to rupture of the mass with haemorrhage, occlusion of nasomaxillary drainage and secondary infection. Almost all affected horses have unilateral or bilateral, intermittent, serosanguinous nasal discharge. Radiographic examination is useful in identifying large PH, but small masses can be overlooked because of superimposition. Computed tomography (CT) has the benefit of producing cross‐sectional images of the sinuses, overcoming the limitations of radiography. The cases in this report suffered from bilateral PH not associated with the ethmoidal labyrinth. They highlight the benefit of CT in the diagnosis, surgical planning and evaluation of the architecture of the sinuses. Preoperative treatment with formalin to desiccate the mass prior to removal can be performed more safely when guided by CT.

In lame horses with clinical signs localised to the tarsocrural joint, disrupted intra-articular soft tissues should be considered in the list of differential diagnoses. Attending clinicians should consider arthroscopic evaluation in cases where primary intra-articular soft tissue injuries are suspected to be causative.