Could something as simple as hoof wall tubule (the keratin-based, tubelike structures that form the hoof wall) density provide veterinarians with clues as to a laminitic horse's prognosis? Not yet, but researchers are taking the first steps determine if it could be a possibility in the future.

Lisa Lancaster, MSc, PhD, DVM, of Lancaster Veterinary Services, in Denver, Colo., and colleagues at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine believe horses' hoof wall tubule density could have diagnostic or prognostic value for laminitic horses, but no data on that subject had yet been collected. So the team recently took the first step in examining their hypothesis, and Lancaster presented the results at the 2013 International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, held Nov. 1-3 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

"We are all familiar with the hoof capsule distortion of chronic laminitis," Lancaster explained. "Previous research has shown that the horn cells (tubular and intertubular horn) are damaged in the laminar wedge tissue, a distinctive feature of chronic laminitis.

"However, we do not know if tubular characteristics differ between normal and acute laminitic feet," she continued. "Laminitis research has established that the laminae undergo pathologic changes before we see clinical changes in the horse. We wondered if there are corresponding subclinical changes to the tubules in the very early stages of disease