Texas A&M’s New Hemoperfusion Clinical Trial Offers Hope For Large Animal Patients
Story by Ainsley Treesh, VMBS Marketing & Communications
Jet Black Dasher, a quarter horse mare, arrived at the Texas A&M Large Animal Teaching Hospital (LATH) in critical condition, with numerous rapid-onset symptoms resulting from liver disease.
But after becoming the hospital’s first patient to receive an innovative hemoperfusion treatment as part of a new clinical trial, the 4-year-old mare has a second chance at life thanks to her dedicated team of Aggie veterinarians.
The LATH is now one of only two teaching hospitals in the United States offering this hemoperfusion treatment for horses, providing lifesaving hope for patients who are not responding to treatment and running out of time.
Onset Of Illness
Jaime Cardenas, Jet Black Dasher’s owner, first brought the mare home four years ago. As a young filly, Jet Black Dasher competed on the racing circuit, placing in several races in Louisiana.
Cardenas noticed a decline in the mare’s health in May, and he quickly took her to his veterinarian in Waller, Texas.
“She stopped eating and we noticed that her gums and eyes looked yellow,” Cardenas said. “I decided right away to take her to the hospital. After running blood work and other tests, they couldn’t determine what was wrong, so they suggested I bring her to Texas A&M for a chance at saving her life.
“I’m always trying to do the best I can for my animals,” Cardenas said. “I’ll do everything I can to see if I am able to save them.”
Jet Black Dasher’s last hope was the LATH, so Cardenas made the hour drive to College Station to see if the veterinarians there could save his mare.
A New Hope
Upon Jet Black Dasher’s arrival at the LATH, Dr. Amanda Trimble, a clinical assistant professor of equine internal medicine, and her team completed a full workup of diagnostic tests. They found that the mare had high levels of bilirubin — a toxic liver enzyme — and high ammonia in addition to lethargy and neurological signs like head pressing, which occurs when a horse presses their head against a wall in an attempt to relieve pressure from toxin buildup in the brain.
Following this assessment, Trimble’s working diagnosis was severe liver disease, so she began Jet Black Dasher on anti-inflammatories, liver protectants, and lactulose to lower the mare’s liver toxins and ammonia levels.
However, Jet Black Dasher’s illness continued to progress.
Trimble knew she was running out of time, so she reached out to her colleague Dr. Kallie Hobbs, an assistant professor of equine internal medicine, about Hobbs’ new clinical trial on hemoperfusion to see if it could be an option for Jet Black Dasher.
This hemoperfusion clinical trial is currently being offered to LATH patients as a secondary treatment if the patient is not responding to normal management.
After determining that the trial would be the best option for Jet Black Dasher, and consulting with Cardenas, the two decided to proceed with hemoperfusion treatment.
A Life-Saving Treatment
For the treatment, Hobbs and her team inserted catheters into Jet Black Dasher’s blood vessels and connected them to a special machine that ran her blood through columns containing a polymer absorbent. The columns absorb particles under a certain size gradient, allowing only the healthy blood to return to the horse.
“In Jet Black Dasher’s case, we filtered through her blood volume twice, removing ammonia, cytokines, and bilirubin,” Hobbs said. “It was remarkable because in the first 30 minutes of treatment, she started eating again and seemed much brighter and happier.”
After the hemoperfusion, Jet Black Dasher’s health steadily improved. Her appetite returned and Trimble began weaning her off some medications.
Trimble was also able to collect a liver biopsy to further understand Jet Black Dasher’s liver disease and develop a permanent treatment plan. From the biopsy, the team determined Jet Black Dasher had a more chronic liver condition that presented in an acute crisis.
Although Jet Black Dasher will likely have to remain on liver medications for the rest of her life, she now has a fighting chance because of the hemoperfusion treatment.
“Being able to stabilize her with the hemoperfusion allowed the liver treatments time to start working and allowed us to get a better diagnosis of what was going on,” Trimble said.
Benefiting Future Patients
As the first horse at the LATH to receive the hemoperfusion treatment, Jet Black Dasher is paving the way for future patients in critical condition.
While hemoperfusion treatment is typically only used after a normal treatment has failed, having access to this lifesaving procedure could make a drastic difference for owners.
“Being one of only two hospitals that offer hemoperfusions raises the level of care we can offer at Texas A&M,” Hobbs said. “If a horse is in critical condition, a hemoperfusion may be their last chance and they can immediately receive that treatment here.”
For Jet Black Dasher, Texas A&M’s focus on offering new, innovative treatments like hemoperfusion was key to saving the mare’s life.
“This is the second horse I have taken to Texas A&M, and they have saved both,” Cardenas said. “They offer groundbreaking treatments like the one that saved Jet Black Dasher, and I’m super grateful for that.”
To learn more about the clinical trial, please contact Hobbs at khobbs05@tamu.edu.
