Adrenal Gland Ultrasonography Appearance in Healthy and Sick Neonatal Foals

Introduction
Abdominal ultrasonography is commonly used in neonatal foals’ clinical evaluation. Abnormal adrenal activity is supposed to be involved in several neonatal diseases (maladjustment syndrome; septicaemia). The objectives of this study were to verify the possibility to visualize the adrenal glands and to describe their ultrasonographic appearance in healthy and sick neonatal foals.

Materials and Methods
Eighteen neonatal foals of different breed were studied; age ranged from 8 hours
to 7 days. Foals were grouped in healthy (n=5), septicemic (n=5), prematurity/ dysmaturity (n=2), hypoxic encephalopathy (n=1) and foals with “other disease” (OD) (n= 5). At admission, during the routine abdominal ultrasound examination using a multifrequency convex probe (4-5.5 MHz), one specific aim was to identify adrenal glands and to record their ultrasonographic appearance. Videoclips were recorded and reviewed retrospectively in blinded fashion to evaluate subjectively echogenicity and size to correlate with the foals’ groups. […]