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BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

HESTEFORSK: "Objektiv måling av øvre luftvegs obstruksjon i Norsk og Svenske travhester" H-19-47-472

Alternative title: "Objective measurement of upper airway obstruction in Norwegian and Swedish harness racehorses"

Awarded: NOK 1.6 mill.

Upper respiratory tract (URT) obstruction (collapse) during exercise is one of the most common causes of poor performance in sporting horses worldwide. Evaluation of laryngeal/ pharyngeal collapse during exercise in horses is currently graded subjectively by visual evaluation of videoendoscopic recordings made on a treadmill or using an overground endoscope. Pilot studies in Equine clinical cases performed at NMBU reveal that it is possible to measure URT obstruction objectively with pressure transducers in either the trachea or nasopharynx during treadmill endoscopy on an outpatient basis in under one hour. This has allowed us to start categorizing different forms of URT obstruction as inspiratory/ expiratory or combined. It has also allowed us to grade obstructions as barely measurable (change in pressure +/- 0 to 5 cmH20), mild (+/- 5 to 10 cmH20), moderate (+/- 10 to 20 cmH20), severe (> +/- 20 cmH20). This project seeks to broaden our understanding of Equine airway physiology during exercise and provide an objective tool to assess the need for surgical treatment & response thereafter. It is anticipated that this will benefit the health, welfare and performance of horses in Scandinavia and beyond. Airway pressure measurements hold the potential to provide objective, continuous, numerical and verifiable data to describe URT function during exercise. If the pharynx/larynx is viewed as the entrance valve to the trachea and lower respiratory tract, future access to such data can become as important to respiratory medicine as measuring blood pressure gradients is in today’s cardiology. Finally, the findings of this study will thereafter be applied to human medicine with a group of physicians NMBU collaborates with at Haukeland (Human) University Hospital, who have pioneered treadmill endoscopy in children and adults during the past decade. They are also very interested in developing this technology for their patients with exercise induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO).

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Kollaps av øvre luftveier under anstrengelse er en av de mest vanlig årsaker til nedsatt prestasjon hos sports hester globalt sett. Evaluering av kollaps i svelget er gjort subjektivt fra video opptak tatt under tredemølle eller «overground» undersøkelse. En «pilot studie» nylig utført ved NMBU viste at det er mulig å måle inspiratorisk/ ekspiratorisk lufttrykk i trakea og svelget i kliniske kasus. Dette har gjort av vi kan begynne å kategorisere ulike typer av øvreluftveis kollaps som inspiratorisk/ ekspiratorisk, eller begge deler. Vi kan også begynne å gradere ulike alvorlighetsgrad av kollaps som: 1) så vidt målbar (forandring i luft trykk 0 til 5 cmH20); 2) mild (5 til10 cmH20); 3) moderat (10 til 20 cmH20); eller 4) markant (> 20 cmH20). Dette prosjektet vil øke vår kunnskap i luftveienes fysiologi, og gi oss en objektiv måte til å vurdere behov for operasjon eller respons på eventuelle inngrep. Project summary in English Upper respiratory tract (URT) collapse during exercise is one of the most common causes of poor performance in sporting horses worldwide. Evaluation of laryngeal/ pharyngeal collapse during exercise in horses is currently graded subjectively from videoendoscopic recordings on a treadmill or from overground endoscopy. Pilot studies in Equine clinical cases performed at NMBU reveal that it is possible to measure URT obstruction objectively with pressure transducers in either the trachea or nasopharynx during treadmill endoscopy. This has allowed us to start categorizing different forms of URT obstruction as inspiratory/ expiratory, or combined. It has also allowed us to grade obstructions as barely measurable (change in pressure 0 to 5 cmH20), mild (5 to10 cmH20), moderate (10 to 20 cmH20), severe ( > 20 cmH20). This project seeks to broaden our understanding of Equine airway physiology, and provide an objective tool to assess the need for surgical treatment & response thereafter.

Funding scheme:

BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram