Aortic Rupture

Veterinary care required

This condition belongs in veterinary diagnosis and treatment. Compounds are at most supportive.

Priority · vet & management

Aortic rupture is an acute, usually fatal emergency: with sudden collapse, severe weakness or circulatory shock, call the vet immediately, and people must keep away from the horse for safety. Causal treatment is generally not possible; the veterinary role covers emergency assessment, avoidance of pain/suffering and, in breeding stallions, risk education in covering management.

Possible causes

• · age-related degeneration of the aortic wall
• · predisposition of older breeding stallions
• · blood pressure peaks under maximum load or during covering
• · rarely a consequence of pre-existing vascular/cardiac weakness

Supportive compounds · supplementary feed, not medication

Prevention

There is no reliable prevention; regular cardiological checks of older breeding stallions and prudent covering management serve above all risk assessment and the protection of the people involved.

Equiterna's take

Equiterna deliberately treats aortic rupture as an emergency with an often fatal outcome and emphasises the protection of people — here there is no accompanying level and no feed measure, but solely veterinary emergency and risk assessment.