Susan Piscopo, DVM, PhD
Susan Piscopo, DVM, PhD, is a free-lance writer in the biomedical sciences. She practiced veterinary medicine in North Carolina before accepting a fellowship to pursue a PhD in physiology at North Carolina State University. She lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and two sons.
Articles by Susan Piscopo
A Prosthetic Eye for the Horse
March 01, 2004
Using ocular ultrasonography, he was able to diagnose complete retinal detachment with a large retinal tear. Because of the grave prognosis for recovery of vision, enucleation (removal of the eye) was recommended. Read More
Relieving Rectal Pain in Mares
March 01, 2004
Roman Skarda, DrMedVet., PhD, professor in the Anesthesia Section of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at The Ohio State University, has studied techniques of epidural and spinal analgesia in horses for 20 years. For the past seven Read More
Longitudinal Tears in the DDFT
March 01, 2004
Horses with chronic inflammation of the digital flexor tendon (DDFT) sheath that doesn't respond to conventional therapy might be suffering from longitudinal tears in the DDFT. Warmbloods which suffer from chronic annular ligament constriction Read More
Colic Surgery and Reperfusion Injury
March 01, 2004
During colic surgery, it can be difficult to judge whether twisted bowel deprived of oxygenated blood, a process called ischemia, will recover sufficiently once it is replaced and blood flows again. While the bowel might look healthy on the outside, Read More
R. equi on Breeding Farms
February 01, 2004
Rhodococcus equi is an organism that lives in soil, requiring warmth and nutrients found in horse manure to grow and spread among equine populations. It is the most common cause of pneumonia in foals one to four months of age, bringing Read More
Aging Changes in Muscles
February 01, 2004
The results of EMG analysis on muscle groups in the shoulder revealed that MUAP duration and amplitude were significantly lower in the youngest horses compared to the adult and senior groups. Read More
Linking Chronic Laminitis to Immunologic Hyperreactivity
February 01, 2004
The pathogenesis of chronic laminitis remains unclear. There is growing evidence, however, of a link between this condition and the development of certain systemic diseases, such as kidney disease, that involve small blood vessel damage. There Read More
Optimizing Implant Therapy in Cycling Mares
January 01, 2004
Deslorelin acetate implants (Ovuplant from Fort Dodge Animal Health) have proven highly successful at inducing ovulation in mares. Implanted mares typically ovulate within 48 hours. Unfortunately, despite administration of prostaglandin during Read More
Understanding Congestive Heart Failure
January 01, 2004
Congestive heart failure is a term describing a group of clinical signs that develop as a result of other cardiac diseases. As the name implies, equine congestive heart failure is generally an endpoint of disease, and it is considered rare in Read More
Tell-Tale Signs of West Nile Virus
January 01, 2004
Unfortunately, clinical signs of West Nile virus (WNV) aren't unique, making it difficult for practitioners to suspect WNV above other neurologic diseases. For this reason, researchers from the University of Florida set out to closely scrutinize Read More
Diagnosing Grass Sickness
November 01, 2003
Equine grass sickness is so named because it occurs in the spring in pastured horses which are eager to eat plentiful green grass. Its cause is unknown, but the result is destruction of the nerves of the gastrointestinal system, which is often Read More
Folic Acid Supplementation
November 01, 2003
Sulphadiazine and pyrimethamine are used in combination to treat equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). These drugs interfere with folic acid (folate) metabolism, a vitamin essential for survival of the causative protozoon Sarcocystis Read More
Diagnosing Septic Foals
November 01, 2003
No one test can reliably diagnose septicemia (systemic infection) in a foal. The clinician must wait for the results of blood cultures, which can take days. However, preliminary studies of a blood protein called serum amyloid A (SAA) have shown Read More
Shoeing for Chronic Laminitis
October 01, 2003
There are limited options for effective treatment of horses with lameness due to chronic laminitis. A common practice involves therapeutic shoeing, which is intended to reduce pain, aid in healing, and help return the horse to activity. Recently Read More
Forages for Stabled Horses
October 01, 2003
Busy training schedules and fears about injury often limit pasture access for performance horses. Prolonged stall confinement, however, can be detrimental to a horse's attitude. Boredom can lead to destructive behaviors, including weaving, Read More
Steroid Effects on the Knees
October 01, 2003
During intensive training, young racehorses experience a thickening in the layers of bone under the cartilage of joints. These layers, called subchondral (located nearer the surface) and cancellous, become harder and better able to handle the Read More
New Tufts Veterinary Conference
October 01, 2003
The inaugural "Bridge to the Future" veterinary conference, hosted by Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, was held in Providence, RI, on Aug. 10-11. This year's speakers included Mary Rose Paradis, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, associate Read More
EPM Testing in Foals
July 01, 2003
Diagnosis of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) involves a technique called Western blotting (WB), which identifies antibodies against Sarcocystis neurona, the parasite responsible for the disease. A positive result on WB does not Read More
Tenoscopy for Tendon Injuries
July 01, 2003
Penetrating injuries near the fetlock can be very serious because of their proximity to the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), which flexes the lower limb joints, and its sheath. While a horse might have only a small cut or puncture wound, the Read More
Does Fat Really Impact Digestion of Fiber?
July 01, 2003
Dietary fats are important components of performance horses' diets because they are calorie-dense and energy-rich. Previous studies have shown, however, that diets high in soybean oil interfere with fiber digestion in trotters. It is unclear Read More
Anesthesia Options for Foals
June 20, 2003
Young foals are notoriously difficult to anesthetize because of their extreme sensitivity to most anesthetic drugs. Ideally, foals are anesthetized using only an inhaled anesthetic. One inhalant, isofluorane, has proven itself easy to use with Read More
Dietary Clues to Tying-Up
June 20, 2003
Recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER, a type of tying-up) is an inherited disorder in Thoroughbreds. Research suggests that RER involves an abnormality in the regulation of calcium in muscle cells. High-grain diets have been implicated as Read More
Overtraining in Standardbreds
June 20, 2003
There is a fine line between striving to maximize a horse's performance and pushing the animal beyond his physical limits. Standardbred racehorses experience a decrease in body weight and an abnormal decrease in blood cortisol when they are Read More
Glucosamine Supplement Efficacy
May 01, 2003
Glucosamine is a popular nutritional supplement that horses are fed in hopes of protecting them from osteoarthritis. Researchers studying the mechanisms of osteoarthritis have identified several compounds, called markers, that are unique to the Read More
Challenges of Assessing Pain
May 01, 2003
Because of its subjective and complex nature, the severity of a horse's pain is very difficult to assess. Recently, a comprehensive review was published by the University of Minnesota outlining the definitions of the types of pain and the Read More
