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  Discussion on Mast Cell Mediated Disease treatment
Author Message
New Member:
pharaoh

Posted on Saturday, Feb 11, 2017 - 4:31 pm:

Hi Dr O,
I have a gelding with a history of exercise intolerance, occasional wheeze and clear to white nasal discharge after a work out. He is always really short on stamina. I have to give him frequent breaks during training to re-catch his air even when hes fit. A few years ago he was diagnosed with mild rao at the age of 4. Ive done a few environmental changes (steam hay, keep turned outside and in a low dust area) but he still continued to struggle. Over the last few years I have treated him with a couple of 4 week long tapered treatments of dex. Then dex as needed. I never really noticed any extra relief from ventipulmin or an albuterol inhaler. Now at the age of 7 Ive decided to do another exam and see how is doing compared to a 3 years ago. I had him examined with chest x rays, ultrasound, scope and bal. His x rays and ultrasound were clean. His scope was clean as well. No drainage or mucus was found. No inflamed tissues either. His bal came back with an increased number of mast cells. Ive read the chronic lower air way article and saw how you explained that mast cell derived lower airway inflammation should be treated with sodium cromoglycate. Then it mentioned steroids but doesn't give an example of with one. Just 250 mg / 1200 lbs then tapered dose directions. Is this for Prednisolone? In your opinion is dex still a good choice for steroid treatment? If its not the top choice then which steroid is most beneficial for a mast cell mediated disease?
Thank you!
Jamie
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 14, 2017 - 10:36 am:

Welcome Jamie,
That dose would be for prednisolone and yes dex is a good choice too. For dosages check out HorseAdvice.com » Treatments and Medications for Horses » Anti-inflammatories (NSAID's, Steroids, Arthritis Rx) » Steroids, Overview of Antiinflammatory Use. You can also follow the links on that page to articles on the specific products.

I tend to use middle dosages in the ranges given then adjust based on response. Often I consider dex for shorter term higher dosage then wean on to pred for longer term dosage though using injectable dex orally is often the cheapest way to go but you can read more about this in the dex article.
DrO
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