Extrapulmonary disorders associated withRhodococcus equiinfections

Ophthalmologic findings associated withRhodococcus equibronchopneumonia in foals

“…Intraocular signs have been previously associated with poor prognosis in septic foals, in which not only the presence of uveitis was considered a negative survival factor, but also the degree of intraocular inflammation (the more severe the inflammation was, the poorer prognosis) . Similarly, extrapulmonary manifestations of R equi have been previously associated with poor prognosis, and more specifically, anterior uveitis has been strongly associated with failure to survive . The present study not only agrees with Reuss et al paper, but also suggests that the survival prognosis in R equi affected foals varies depending on the severity of intraocular inflammation, foals with mild uveitis being more likely to survive.…”

“…Unfortunately, the pathogenesis for uveitis associated with R equi infection is unknown, but might include dissemination of bacteria to the eye or immune‐mediated mechanisms. Immune‐complex deposition is also thought to contribute to other EPDs such as polysinovitis . Further studies are needed to establish the pathogenic mechanism of the ocular presentation of the disease.…”

“…Ocular signs of systemic diseases have been rarely reported in foals. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Rhodococcus equi bronchopneumonia has been sporadically associated with ocular signs in foals, 10,[12][13][14][15] but no detailed description of the ocular findings induced by R equi infection has been reported. Although the presence of uveitis is repeatedly named as extrapulmonary disorder (EPD) associated with R equi, this is the first study describing that severe anterior uveitis is highly prevalent in foals affected by R equi infection, characterizing its ocular findings, and suggesting that the severity of uveitis may be considered as a nonsurvival prognosis factor in sick foals.…”

“…For the purpose of this study, the diagnosis of R equi infection was defined as a foal aged 3 weeks to 6 months that met at least two of the following criteria: (a) clinical signs consistent with pneumonia (temperature >39.5°C, a respiratory rate >80/min, coughing, purulent nasal discharge, abnormal lung sounds), (b) white blood cell count >13.0×10 9 /L, (c) radiographic or ultrasonography evidence of bronchopneumonia (where abscesses were defined as focal hypoechoic areas of consolidation with a diameter ≥1.0 cm), and (d) cytological identification of gram‐positive coccobacilli in, or isolation of R equi by microbiologic culture from an abscess or tracheobronchial aspirate (TBA) …”

“…1 Reports on ocular manifestations of systemic diseases in foals are few, including neonatal septicemia, 3 strangles (Streptococcus equi infection), 4,5 adenoviral infection, 6 equine viral arteritis, 7 equine herpesvirus-1 infection (EHV-1), 8 and Rhodococcus equi (R equi). [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] To the best of our knowledge, no pathognomonic ocular signs have been described to date for any systemic disease in foals, due to it being impossible to issue the etiologic diagnosis based only on ocular findings.…”