High on many equine researchers' wishlists is finding a way to identify signs of impending laminitis sooner, allowing them to begin treatment earlier and hopefully provide a better prognosis for affected horses. Laminitis is a devastating hoof disease in which the interlocking leaflike tissues called laminae anchoring the distal phalanx (DP, or coffin bone) within the hoof become inflamed and fail to support the bone.

Recently, scientists have discovered that osteolysis (dissolving of bone) of the DP is an early sign of laminitis development. To better identify and characterize this process, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) researchers evaluated DP disease using micro-computed tomography (microCT). Julie Engiles, VMD, Dipl. ACVP, assistant professor of pathology at Penn Vet's New Bolton Center, presented their results at the 2013 American Association of Equine Practitioners' Convention, held Dec. 7-11 in Nashville, Tenn.

In the study, Engiles and colleagues assessed parasagittal (vertical) bone slices from 36 feet (26 front feet and 10 hind feet), collected in a database established by Hannah Galantino-Homer, VMD, PhD, senior research investigator on laminitis at New Bolton Center, from 15 horses with and without clinical signs or history of laminitis. They evaluated the feet for bone loss using microCT, which can provide detailed information about subtle changes in bone microarchitecture. Engiles said her team's microCT scans provided quantitative measurements indicating bone volume, bone density, and bone mineral density, among others, which they correlated with laminitis severity based on radiographic, gross, and histopathologic changes identified within an adjacent parasagittal slice from each foot