Hallmarq Veterinary Equine Imaging is proud to announce their standing MRI system has been selected to expand the extraordinary list of services offered by Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center, one of the foremost equine medical centers in the world.
Some 4,000 horses come to Alamo Pintado each year, often as many as 30 arrive in just one day. Their owners come seeking treatment for a wide range of issues, from lameness to intestinal surgeries.
Alamo Pintado already offers a comprehensive list of medical diagnostics and therapies, including a traditional high-field MRI that requires full anesthesia. In fact, Alamo Pintado is the first in the United States, and only the second globally, to offer both high-field and standing equine MRI. Carter Judy, DVM DACVS of Alamo Pintado said, “Our guiding mantra here at Alamo Pintado is to offer choice to our clients, which means we must offer a complete array of all the available technology, so that the ‘care team’ of owner and veterinarians can collectively treat the individual horse in the way that best fits his or her problem and situation.”
In regards to having two types of MRIs, Dr. Judy explained, “We see the standing and high-field MRIs as complementary, sometimes the high-field is a better choice, but oftentimes the standing MRI is, for a variety of reasons, including rechecks, health screenings for race and performance horses that have no specific lameness, and those with potential anesthesia risks due to age, breed, and overall health. Offering both types of MRIs was simply necessary to provide a truly comprehensive array of diagnostic tools for our clients.”
The Hallmarq MRI is an outpatient procedure, with sedation similar to that used for digital radiographs or other procedure requiring a horse to stand very still. Other MRI systems require full lay-down anesthesia, with its associated risks, but may provide advantages in certain cases such as those where the lameness is in higher joints, such as the stifle.
The ideal standing MRI case is where the problem has been localized to a specific region of the leg, and radiographs have not indicated a clear diagnosis. “The closer to the ground, the less sway in a standing horse’s limb, so hoof images are approaching 100% successful (98.5%), and fetlock images are close to that (96%) with our latest system,” explained Dan Brown, a veterinarian and Business Development Director for Hallmarq. “Regions higher up the leg can be imaged, but the results will be defined by how still the horse stays under sedation.
To put another set of numbers to it, we see roughly 30% of radiographs able to give accurate foot diagnoses, whereas our standing MRI system offers triple that success rate at approximately 90%.” Dr. Brown concluded, “Alamo Pintado is a highly respected equine clinic, we are honored to be added to their array of diagnostic tools.”