Mucus, Dehydration and Equine Asthma
One of the key features of a healthy respiratory system is a thin layer of almost invisible mucus which lines the airways. Even when a horse is being ‘scoped, if the airways are healthy it can be very difficult to see any mucus. However, if we do a tracheal wash (where saline is passed down the endoscope and into the windpipe and then aspirated (drawn out)) or a deep lung wash (bronchoalveolar lavage - BAL) we can see the mucus in the sample retrieved from the lungs. In fact, if we aspirate a clear sample with . . .