Fatal spinal cord compression in a horse with chronic actinobacterial cranial nuchal bursitis

Abstract

A 14-year-old warmblood gelding was managed for waxing and waning cranial nuchal bursitis for 2 years. Intensive medical and surgical management was not curative, and the patient was subjected to euthanasia after becoming acutely recumbent. Ante-mortem and post-mortem next generation sequencing of bursal tissue and post-mortem conventional PCR detected a sequence within the Actinobacteria phylum. Post-mortem examination, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings confirmed spinal cord compression, an undescribed sequela of nuchal bursitis in modern equine medicine.