Summary
Laryngeal muscles and nerves were obtained from 42 horses, 3 of which suffered from laryngeal hemiplegia. Of the remaining 39 clinically normal horses, 30% (12) demonstrated pathological changes in the laryngeal musculature.
These changes were indicative of neurogenic atrophy and varied from fibre type grouping only, to marked fascicular atrophy. The muscles affected were those on the left side of the larynx and were supplied by the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Early changes were, however, seen in the muscles on the right side in one case. The main feature of the neural lesion was a distally progressive loss of myelinated nerve fibres, but evidence of segmental demyelination and remyelination was seen in teased nerve fibre preparations. The pattern of the muscle lesion and the possible aetiology of the neuropathy are discussed.
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Duncan, I.D., Griffiths, I.R., McQueen, A. et al. The pathology of equine laryngeal hemiplegia. Acta Neuropathol 27, 337–348 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00690698
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00690698