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Discussion on Pemphigus Foliaceous
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New Member:
kelpie
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007 - 4:02 pm:
I have a friend with a horse that may have Pemphigus Foliaceous...one thing this person is trying to figure out is whether or not this condition can be definitively diagnosed...if so how. Also, how do you determine if the issue is truly pemphigus and not some other unusual skin disorder or allergy?
Thanks!
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Sep 13, 2007 - 9:01 am:
Welcome AT,
The article explains the diagnositic procedures and what other diseases may be possible. If the clinical signs and histopath lesions are consistent with PF you make the diagnosis as other possibilities are much less likely. It is rare in medicine that you are ever 100% sure with any disease diagnosis. Fortunately the positive immunofloresence of the presence of immunoglobulins attached to parts of the dermis is pretty definitive for immune medicated disease and the therapy for all such diseases is the same.
DrO
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New Member:
kelpie
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Posted on Thursday, Sep 13, 2007 - 10:35 am:
Thanks for your response. The vet drew blood on this particular horse, took skin cultures and did a skin biopsy in 3 places. With all of this, he still could not say definitively that it was Pemphigus. Just that Pemphigus was "on the list" and it was a short list.
In regards to the clinical signs, the circular lesions that this horse has were never puss filled. They either came in as a flat, circular spots with no hair and white skin or they were just a circular spot with an open sore - like a cut. Also when this first started 2 months ago, there were no lesions and it looked more like scurf in contact areas - where the girth goes and where your leg rests while riding. I think that those areas became sores due to the continual contact with leg and girth. Vet prescribed a round of SMZs and Panolog at that time.
Panolog was applied every day to impacted areas for almost 2 months and it never completely went away- in the last 3 weeks it got much worse. The horse was covered in scurf patches and these circular lesions and also had some welt like places on his body. Vet prescribed malasab shampoo and spray and it still got worse. Took him off everything took the biopsy/bloodwork and started him on SMZs and dex. He began to heal and as he did the skin sloughed off in all of the irritated areas. The dex was administered as 3 days of 10ccs and the 3 days (every other) 5ccs.
Horse gets last dose of dex today and then the vet says to just "wait and see what happens." If it comes back could be pemphigus but could still be some weird allergy. Owner is very worried and does not understand why all of the tests could not rule this in or out.
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