Vegetative endocarditis in equids (1994--2006).

Background: Endocarditis is a rare heart condition with variable clinical expressions in equids. Risk factors for this disease are incompletely understood.

Objective: Describe risk factors for endocarditis in equids.

Animals: One hundred and fifty-three equids admitted to Liège University, 9 diagnosed with endocarditis and 144 free from endocarditis but admitted to the hospital with a differential diagnosis including this disease.

Methods: Retrospective case-control study.

Results: Equids with endocarditis were significantly younger (mean age = 4.84 +/- 5.74 years) than control equids (mean age = 10.8 +/- 7.73 years) (P = .01). No sex or breed predisposition was observed. Animals with hyperthermia (odds ratio [OR] = 24.4; confidence interval [CI] = 1.40-428), synovial distension (OR = 13.4; CI = 3.00-59.8), lameness (OR = 6.52; CI = 1.63-26.1), hyperglobulinemia (OR = 26.4; CI = 3.03-229), hypoalbuminemia (OR = 11.4; CI = 1.34-96.8), hyperfibrinogenemia (OR = 9.81; CI = 1.16-82.7), or leukocytosis (OR = 7.12; CI = 1.40-36.4) presented a significantly higher risk of having endocarditis than control horses. The presence of two of the clinical signs mentioned above significantly increased the probability of a diagnosis of endocarditis (P< or = .05).

Conclusions And Clinical Importance: Age is associated with equine endocarditis. The diagnostic value of certain clinical signs and abnormalities in blood parameters in this disease are described.