Page 11 - ACT Annual Review August 2020 - July 2021
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OUR IMPACT ON HORSES
The ACT has a rich history of supporting over the walls of the major arteries in these has been no satisfactory treatment for these
projects and equipment that benefit equine guttural pouches, located below horses’ ears. tumours, but with the Thermofield device,
welfare, often through the RVC’s Equine As the fungus grows, it invades and erodes the RVC Equine is now able to target these
Hospital and Ambulatory Practice. In the last arterial walls which can lead to haemorrhage. tumours using a combination of locoregional
year we have funded two important pieces Diagnosis of the condition relies on an hyperthermia and intra-tumoral chemotherapy.
of equipment. The video endoscope is endoscopic study of the pouches to visually This means the tumours can be reduced in size,
helping RVC Equine to provide accurate and confirm infection and identify the exact site of making surgery possible.
timely diagnoses and the Thermofield device the bleeding. Surgical intervention can then be Sylvia was riddled with large confluent tumours
is facilitating the pioneering treatment of planned. Simba was diagnosed with right-sided surrounding her anus and the dock of her tail
equine skin cancers. guttural pouch mycosis and minimally invasive that were affecting her ability to defecate. The
The new video endoscope is an excellent emergency surgery was performed to occlude team decided on a two-stage treatment plan.
diagnostic tool for upper and lower respiratory the affected artery with a balloon catheter. The first stage involved treating all the tumours
diseases. The quality of the images obtained far Hyperthermia has been used as a treatment with locoregional hyperthermia and intra-
exceeds those produced by older endoscopes tool in human oncology for many years. When tumoral chemotherapy to try and reduce their
which had traditional eyepieces requiring the combined with chemotherapy, it has been size. Once the perianal tumours had shrunk
vet to look with one eye through the lens and reported to result in reduced tumour size and enough for the vets to be able to clearly identify
have a very small field of vision. The new video improved survival rates for a variety of cancers. the cancerous tissue from healthy tissue, they
endoscope gives a high-quality, live picture on The RVC Equine Team wanted to develop a carried out surgical removal using a diode
a tablet screen making diagnosis of conditions novel treatment for equine melanoma using the laser. The surgery was long but successful and
much easier and more conclusive. The footage ACT-funded Thermofield device and combining Sylvia’s owners are delighted with the results.
can be seen clearly by students and clients, it with intra-tumoral chemotherapy, enabling
meaning vets are more easily able to show and them to target tumours for which there are no
explain what they are seeing when scoping other satisfactory treatment options.
a horse.
Although several treatments exist for equine
Simba is a two-year-old pony who was melanoma, none are 100% effective. Surgical
presented to RVC Equine bleeding from both removal is most effective and is the mainstay
nostrils. Horses can experience nose bleeds for of treatment in most cases, but unfortunately,
different reasons but one of the most feared is some tumours are inoperable because of
a condition called guttural pouch mycosis. This their location and complexity. Until now there
is where a fungal infection becomes established
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