Derek Knottenbelt, OBE, BVM&S, DipECEIM, MRCVS, recently presented two sessions at the XX SIVE International Congress in Milan, Italy, wherein he commended the use of the SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ (FBT) as providing “very useful information” to support the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases in horses.
Diagnosing equine digestive problems
In his presentation, Knottenbelt described how the SUCCEED Equine Fecal Blood Test may be useful in establishing the presence of potential gastrointestinal ulceration syndromes.
One presentation focused on gastrointestinal neoplasia (cancer), in which tumors develop in the stomach or intestines. In this presentation, Knottenbelt, Professor of Equine Medicine at the University of Liverpool (UK) and Clinical Consultant at the Weipers Centre Equine Hospital at the University of Glasgow, described how the SUCCEED FBT may be useful in establishing the presence of potential gastrointestinal ulceration syndromes.
He noted that fecal blood test results, in conjunction with other hematological biochemical and clinical parameters, may support the diagnosis or presumed diagnosis of intestinal neoplasia.
In a second presentation, titled “A practical guide to the diagnosis of intestinal disease in horses,” Knottenbelt suggested that the SUCCEED Equine Fecal Blood Test could be valuable in use “both as a routine within a stable and as a specific diagnostic test by clinicians.”
With regards to the use of the fecal blood test in clinical settings, Knottenbelt noted that “provided the interpretation is made correctly on the findings, in conjunction with other tests, it may even be possible to identify relatively minor early pathology in parts of the intestinal tract that are impossible to examine fully in the normal clinical situation.”
The SIVE International Congress was held February 7-9, 2014. SIVE is the Società Italiana Veterinari per Equini, or Italian Society of Equine Veterinarians.
Knottenbelt’s references to the SUCCEED FBT during presentations at SIVA are based, in part, on a series of research studies he is undertaking at the University of Glasgow. Knottenbelt is co-director of these studies, together with Tim Parkin, PhD, DipECVPH, MRCVS, Senior Research Fellow with the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow.
Results of their work will be presented at various scientific conferences worldwide throughout 2014. This includes presentations at Voorjaarsdagen (also known as the European Veterinary Conference) April 17-19 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and at the Australian Veterinary Association Conference in Perth, Australia, May 25-29, and a poster presentation at the ACVIM conference in Nashville, TN, June 4-7, 2014.
The SUCCEED FBT is an equine-specific fecal blood test that aids the veterinarian’s diagnosis of digestive tract conditions in equine patients. This test detects equine albumin and hemoglobin in a fresh fecal sample, to indicate pathological conditions of the equine foregut or hindgut, and differentiates between the two.
The FBT provides practitioners with a quick stall-side screen that may guide further diagnostic methods and help avoid more costly or invasive procedures.
Veterinarians can obtain the SUCCEED FBT through major veterinary supply distributors in the U.S., including Henry Schein Animal Health, Patterson Veterinary, MWI Animal Health, Midwest Veterinary Supply and Animal Health International.
The SUCCEED Equine Fecal Blood Test is produced by Freedom Health LLC of Aurora, Ohio. The company is focused on finding, perfecting and delivering superior, innovative products that address real and significant health-related issues for animals and the people who care for them.