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Faculty share expertise at national meetings

Members of the UF CVM  faculty recently have shared their expertise in presentations made at professional meetings, including the Association of American Equine Practitioners. That meeting was held Dec. 1-5 in Anaheim, Calif.

Dr. Margo Macpherson, an associate professor of theriogenology in the department of large animal clinical sciences, chaired a scientific session at AAEP, titled “Cutting Edge Applications in Equine Reproduction,” consisting of 13 papers. One of her own papers was included in that session.

“My work examined the use of Excede, a long acting cephalosporin drug, in pregnant mares,” Macpherson said. “Essentially, we determined that the drug and its metabolites do not effectively cross the placenta to attain drug concentrations in the fetus or fetal fluids. This would make the drug a poor choice for treating mares with placentitis.”

Dr. Malgorzata Pozor, a clinical assistant professor of theriogenology in the department of large animal clinical sciences,  also presented on “Usefulness of Dip Quick Stain in Evaluating Sperm Morphology in Stallions.”

“Our recent study showed that a commonly used cellular stain, Dip (Diff) Quick, can be used to evaluate morphology of spermatozoa in stallions,” Pozor said. “While other, more sophisticated methods, such as phase contrast  or differential interface contrast (DIC), remain gold standards for this evaluation, veterinary practitioner can successfully use this simple staining method for detecting morphological sperm defects, which can be detrimental to stallion fertility. Based on the results of our study we  described a modified staining protocol, which is most suitable for stallion semen.”

Other faculty who presented work at AAEP included Dr. David Freeman, professor of surgery in the department of large animal clinical sciences, and Dr. Natasha Werpy, a clinical assistant professor of diagnostic imaging with the department of small animal clinical sciences. Werpy’s talk was on “Metacarpophalangeal Joint Lesions Identified on MRI with Lameness that Resolves Using Palmar Digital Nerve and Intra-Articular Analgesia.”

Freeman’s talk was titled “Long Term Survival after Colic Surgery — Clinically Relevant Factors.”

“This paper focused on identifying factors that can influence long-term survival after colic surgery, with long-term defined as up to 14 years after surgery,” Freeman said. “The first goal was to dispel myths, such as old horses do not handle colic surgery as well as younger horses, horses do not regain full athletic potential after colic surgery, and all horses that survive colic surgery will have persistent problems with poor health and recurrent colic throughout their lives. None of this is true.”

He added, “The owner, referring veterinarian and the veterinary hospital work together as a team to produce a successful outcome by making sure that surgery is done promptly. The most important fact that we have learned at the University of Florida is that the sooner the surgery is done, the better the longterm prognosis.”

Prior to AAEP, Drs. Pozor and Macpherson also spoke at the West Coast Reproduction Symposium and acted as laboratory instructors.

“This was a fundraising effort to send graduate students and residents to the International Symposium on Equine Reproduction, which will be held in New Zealand in 2014,” Macpherson said.