Zaha Cristian, Schuszler Larisa, Dascalu Roxana, Nistor Paula, Florea Tiana, Imre Kálmán, Rujescu Ciprian, Sicoe Bogdan, Igna Cornel
Surgery Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences "King Michael I", 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
Dermatology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I", 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
Biology (Basel). 2023 Mar 10;12(3):423. doi: 10.3390/biology12030423.
Horses with palmar foot pain do not show a typical increase in temperature in the palmar aspect of the hoof and heel due to low blood flow. The objectives of the current study were to determine the changes and differences in the thermographic pattern of the sole surface in horses with unilateral palmar foot pain and non-lame horses before and after training. We hypothesized that the thermal pattern and the local temperature of the frog area and toe area would be similar, with an increased local temperature after training in both lame and non-lame horses. A pilot study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of thermography used to detect changes in local temperature and to compare the thermal patterns observed on the sole surface after training.
The study group included eight horses with unilateral forelimb palmar foot pain ( = 8) and healthy contralateral limbs ( = 8). Four additional non-lame horses served as controls. The horses were selected for the study based on the following criteria: forelimb with unilateral chronic progressive lameness and positive reactions when performing the hoof test and frog wedge test, degenerative findings of the navicular bone, and improvement in lameness after perineural analgesia of the medial and lateral palmar digital nerve. The local temperatures of the frog and toe areas were measured before and after training in the affected and contralateral limbs in the study group and both forelimbs in the control group using an FLIR E50 thermal camera. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to check the sensitivity and specificity of the results for the studied groups.
The thermal patterns of the hoof presented differences between the three groups of horse limbs. After training, the temperature of the sole surface increased, and its area increased in the limbs affected with palmar foot pain compared with the non-lame limbs in the study group and the limbs in the control group. The temperature of the frog area did not increase after training in the limbs affected with palmar foot pain compared with the same area in the other groups. The ROC curve analysis demonstrated the medical applicability of this tool and showed that thermography is a reliable diagnostic test to correctly discriminate between non-lame horses and those with palmar foot pain.
We recommend thermographic scanning of the toe and frog area to detect changes in the local temperature of the sole surface after training to discriminate the horses with palmar foot pain from non-lame ones. Further investigation is required to clarify whether the observed thermographic imaging features of the sole surface are characteristic for horses with palmar foot pain.
由于血流量低，患有掌部蹄痛的马匹在蹄掌和足跟的掌侧不会出现典型的温度升高。本研究的目的是确定单侧掌部蹄痛马匹和非跛行马匹在训练前后足底表面热成像模式的变化和差异。我们假设蛙部区域和趾部区域的热模式和局部温度会相似，并且在训练后，跛行和非跛行马匹的局部温度都会升高。进行了一项初步研究，以调查用于检测局部温度变化的热成像的准确性，并比较训练后在足底表面观察到的热模式。
研究组包括八匹单侧前肢掌部蹄痛的马（n = 8）和健康的对侧肢体（n = 8）。另外四匹非跛行马作为对照。根据以下标准选择马匹进行研究：单侧慢性进行性跛行的前肢，在进行蹄部试验和蛙楔试验时呈阳性反应，舟状骨有退行性病变，以及在掌侧指神经进行神经周围镇痛后跛行有所改善。使用FLIR E50热成像相机在研究组的患侧和对侧肢体以及对照组的双前肢训练前后测量蛙部和趾部区域的局部温度。应用受试者操作特征（ROC）曲线分析来检查研究组结果的敏感性和特异性。
三组马肢的蹄部热模式存在差异。训练后，与研究组的非跛行肢体和对照组的肢体相比，患有掌部蹄痛的肢体的足底表面温度升高，且其面积增大。与其他组相同区域相比，患有掌部蹄痛的肢体在训练后蛙部区域的温度没有升高。ROC曲线分析证明了该工具的医学适用性，并表明热成像是一种可靠的诊断测试，能够正确区分非跛行马和患有掌部蹄痛的马。
我们建议对趾部和蛙部区域进行热成像扫描，以检测训练后足底表面的局部温度变化，从而区分患有掌部蹄痛的马和非跛行马。需要进一步研究以阐明观察到的足底表面热成像特征是否是患有掌部蹄痛的马的特征。
