Technique and diagnostic value of percutaneous lung biopsy in 66 horses with diffuse pulmonary diseases using an automated biopsy device

摘要

Percutaneous lung biopsy in the horse is indicated when a histological diagnosis is required for treatment of a patient with diffuse lung disease of undetermined aetiology and after other less invasive diagnostic methods have failed to provide a definitive diagnosis. Methods reported for lung biopsy in horses have included cutting needle and high speed drill (Schatzmann et al. 1974; Raphel and Gunson 1981). Lung biopsy is generally performed in a standing horse under local anaesthesia, with or without, sedation. In order to obtain a representative sample by needle biopsy, the disease process must be diffuse and affect all areas of the lung to a similar extent. Further, for the biopsy specimen to be diagnostic, the disease concerned has to be one where a specific histological diagnosis is possible. Percutaneous lung biopsy has been successfully used in horses with diffuse pulmonary diseases such as fungal pneumonia, granulomatous pneumonia, pneumoconiosis and recurrent airway obstruction (Shively etal. 1973; Berry et al. 1991; Naylor et al. 1992; Savage et al. 1998; Pusterla et al. 2002, 2003). Complications observed with lung biopsy in horses include epistaxis, pulmonary haemorrhage, tachypnoea, respiratory distress, and less commonly, pneumothorax, haemothorax, collapse and death (Raphel and Gunson 1981; Naylor et al. 1992; Savage et al. 1998; Perkins et al. 1999). The procedure is not recommended for patients presented with severe tachypnoea, in respiratory distress, exhibiting uncontrollablecoughing, or those with bleeding disorders.