A pain in the neck - how to take and interpret equine cervical spine radiographs

Disease of the equine cervical spine can lead to a wide variety of clinical signs, such as reduced movement, fore limb lameness and ataxia. Due to its relative low cost and wide availability, radiographic examination of this area is one of the first instance to diagnose potential abnormalities of this area. For recognising lesions, familiarity with the normal anatomy is as important as knowledge of radiographic appearance of abnormalities such as equine cervical malformation and abnormalities of the articular facet joints. However, a radiographic diagnosis can only be made on good quality radiographs. This talk aims to help practitioners to take good quality radiographs of the equine cervical spine and recognise common and not so common abnormalities of this area.

• •How to take radiographic views of the equine cervical spine
• •Assessing and improving the diagnostic quality of radiographs
• •How to recognize common and not so common disease on radiographs