Researchers are successfully taking a page from human medicine when it comes to treating one common cause of pregnancy loss in mares: cervical incompetence. Recently, Stefania Bucca, DVM, of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, in Doha, evaluated the efficacy of applying a cervical cerclage suture to affected mares and presented her results at the 2013 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ convention, held Dec. 7-11 in Nashville, Tenn.

An incompetent cervix does not relax and open properly during estrus or form a tight seal and close properly during diestrus (when the mare is not in heat). Bucca said that during pregnancy, this failure to close exposes the uterine environment to physical, chemical, or biological challenges and predisposes the mare to developing ascending placentitis (inflammation of the placenta that can cause late-term abortion).

Currently, the standard treatment method involves administering an antimicrobial, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, and altrenogest (a progesterone hormone product) for a week’s duration at monthly intervals until the foal’s birth. "The shortcoming of this treatment is that mares may still have a preterm delivery or fetal loss with histopathological (microscopic) evidence of ascending placentitis despite treatment," Bucca explained.

In women, cervical incompetence can result in preterm birth and late-term abortions, similar to that seen in mares. Human doctors treat this condition by administering progesterone, but they also might perform a cervical cerclage—essentially, stitching up the cervix opening early in pregnancy and removing the sutures near the end of gestation. So Bucca set out to determine how effective and applicable this technique might be for mares