Wobbler syndrome in horses cervical stenotic myelopathy. A review

Equine Wobbler Syndrome (WS) or Cervical Stenotic Myelopathy, is one of the mainly reported neurological disease in young horses. Pathological findings in WS include chronic spinal cord compression related to a stenotic cervical vertebral canal, leading to degenerative myelopathy and clinical ataxia. Vertebral abnormalities and their location in the cervical column can be divided in two groups when the origin of the stenosis is considered : (i) dynamic and iterative stenosis associated with neck movement; (ii) anatomic and permanent stenosis unrelated to cervical motion. However, the functional anatomy and pathology of the cervical spinal cord lead to common clinical features, whatever the type of stenosis involved. The whole authors agree about WS aetiology : many factors combine to bring about cervical vertebral abnormalities, like mechanical overload, high-rate skeletal growth, unbalanced diet programs, genetics, or copper dietary intake. The influence of each of these factors, although evident, must be further investigated.