RETHINKING EGUS: EQUINE GLANDULAR GASTRIC ULCER SYNDROME

摘要

Recently, interest in distinguishing EGGUS as a separate entity from ESGUS has increased1 and a series of recent studies have clearly demonstrated that the risk factors for2, and response to treatment of3"5, EGGUS differ dramatically from that of ESGUS. This is not surprising given the differences in the anatomy of the glandular mucosa and pathophysiology of the conditions. The implications of this awareness of distinguishing ESGUS from EGGUS is significant as it should be recognized that the large body of literature that has been built up over the years for ESGUS cannot be directly applied to EGGUS. Instead EGGUS should be thought of a separate disease and one for which investigations into epidemiology, effect of performance, and welfare are needed.The terminology for EGGUS is yet to be resolved but unpublished data6 suggests that a number of different disease processes may be present. As such the use of the term "syndrome" is appropriate until the disease or diseases involved are further identified. It has been proposed that erosion may be a more appropriate term than ulceration as histologically the lesions are not full thickness mucosa in the majority of cases6. However in human medicine a similar situation is present in that many lesions are defined clinically as ulcers even though histologically they may not be full thickness. In human medicine the term ulcer is preferred for simplicity and to avoid confusion7. As such the term EGGUS will be used for the purposes of this presentation.