Uterine Inertia due to Severe Selenium Deficiency in a Parturient Mare

Uterine Inertia due to Severe Selenium Deficiency in a Parturient Mare
J Equine Vet Sci. 2020 Feb;85:102845.

Authors
Nicolas I Busse 1 , Benjamin Uberti 2
Affiliations

1 Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
2 Institute of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.

PMID: 31952635
DOI: 10.1016/j.jevs.2019.102845

Abstract

A 12-year-old, multiparous, parturient show jumper embryo-recipient mare presented at a veterinary hospital, seven days past her due date and with a dilated cervix, for evaluation of mild colic. Gastrointestinal or metabolic abnormalities and fetal maldispositions were excluded as causes of dystocia, and a diagnosis of uterine inertia was made. There was no uterine response to oxytocin treatment. A live filly was delivered via C-section, and severe selenium deficiency was eventually confirmed in the mare, her offspring, and in the herd of origin. The filly was born with severe white muscle disease and required intensive treatment. This report suggests that selenium deficiency is an underlying cause of equine uterine inertia in the absence of other causes of dystocia.