Blood Test Misses Mark for Diagnosing Equine Gastric Ulcers
A promising new sucrose test might have led to simpler, cheaper testing. However, a recent study suggests the test lacks sufficient accuracy. | Photo: iStock
Diagnosing equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is both complicated and costly. But treating without a definite diagnosis is risky—and could waste a lot of money. A promising new sucrose test might have led to simpler, cheaper testing. However, a recent study suggests the test lacks sufficient accuracy.

“Unfortunately, in the population of adult horses that we studied, the test appears to be a fail in that it’s not sensitive enough to reliably identify horses with EGUS,” said Michael Hewetson, BSc (Hons), BVSc, Dipl. ECEIM, an internal medicine specialist at the University of Helsinki Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Finland.

“It’s a disappointment, as we were hopeful that the diagnostic accuracy of the test would be good following some promising early results in a pilot study that we had performed back in 2006,” he said.

That 2006 study, which focused on sucrose content in blood samples, followed a 2004 pilot study on sucrose levels in urine

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