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HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Nervous System » Incoordination, Weakness, Spasticity, Tremors » Equine Degenerative Myeloencephalopathy (EDM) or Neuroaxonal Dystrophy »
  Discussion on EDM
Author Message
New Member:
Lilmax

Posted on Sunday, Jan 16, 2005 - 10:53 pm:

Dr O: I am new here and need help quickly. I have an 8 month old colt that fell 3 times last month. The 1st- was with a new farrier that he didn't know he rared up and went over backwards hitting his right shoulder. The 2nd - he was running in the pasture and tripped down the hill and did a summer salt hitting his head, neck, back,and rear end. The 3td he was running in the pasture again and tripped and fell down the hill falling on his left side. 2 days after the 3td fall he was wobbling,shaking his head and wouldn't let you anywhere near his ears,also has a real sore spot of the left side of his neck.So I called my vet. He descriped it kind of like whiplash and had me give him 1/2 gram bute 2 times a day and stall rest. About a week went by and he got worse with the wobbling. My vet sent me over to a specialist and they did a spinal tap and tested him for EPM and West Nile,spinal fluid was normal and clear. They put him on Dex for 3 days, Banamine, and EPM medicine until the EPM test came back. About a week later test came back neg for everything. He got a little better for about a day and 1/2 and then reverted back. They sent me somewhere else for a CT and Mylogram. CT came back completely normal as well as all blood work. They could not do the mylo because his pressure was rising. They told me that he has EDM. Before Max fell he was completely healthy and sound. Today he is still wobbling, but not as bad. Can you tell me anything that would lead me to believe that this isn't true and maybe it is just spinal cord pressure and inflammation from the fall or a pinched nerve or something. They have changed his diet to Timothy Hay, Gro N Win, and 6000 mg Vitamin E. Thank you
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 17, 2005 - 4:43 pm:

I am sorry to hear you are having such trouble Marla. I presume you have read the article and the section on the diagnosis of EDM: what have they found to support their diagnosis?
DrO
Member:
Lilmax

Posted on Monday, Jan 17, 2005 - 6:13 pm:

Nothing, just experience. All his test thus far have been neg. CT they only went to 2. They treated him for EPM until it came back neg. and then took him off of it. They gave him Dex for 3 days and Banamine for 1 week. Now they say don't give him anything because there is nothing that can be done.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 18, 2005 - 7:29 am:

To answer your question directly: No, there is nothing in your post that tells me it cannot be EDM. The history is not terribly supportive of EDM as usually a slow onset is noted. However the two most common other rule outs, Wobblers and Trauma, usually leave evidence of recent bleeding and inflammation in the CSF. What needs to be done is evaluation of blood vitamin E on the presupplementation samples and good standing lateral radiographs of the cervical spine to evaluate for Wobblers. The vitamin supplementation and anti-inflammatory treatment should be continued, unless they have a good reason not to, until a good diagnosis is made in my opinion.
DrO
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