الفهرس 
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinico-laboratory alterations in horses suffering from some musculoskeletal disorders including ER, myositis and back pain and to follow up the progressive changes of these affections by US. For this reason, 50 horses with various symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders were thoroughly investigated. On the basis of the clinical settings and laboratory findings, as well as, application of the sonography the investigated horses were categorized into three separate groups. The first group included seven horses suffered from ER; the second one involved twenty three animals suffering from uncategorized myositis; while the third group included ten horses having back pain problems. Each group was further sub-grouped, according to severity, into mild and severe cases. Blood samples were drawn from the investigated horses for laboratory assessment after thorough clinical examination were done for each horse was subjected to clinical and then sonographic examination. Application of convex probe 3.5 MHZ on normal gluteal muscles revealed a homogenous muscular echogenic mass near the hyperechoic iliac border of the pelvic bone. Severe cases of ER demonstrated hypoechoic loss of muscle texture, while mild cases showed small hypoechoic cavities that replaced the affected muscles. On the other sides, the mild form of myositis showed as hypoechoic loss of muscle striation with linear probe 10 MHZ, however severe form appeared as fibrinous hyperechoic dots and pus echogenic cells floating in hypoechoic space and in few cases, there were emphysematous hypoechogenic pupples using the same transducer and frequency. The sonogram of normal back muscles using convex probe 3.5 MHZ revealed a homogenous echogenic appearance above hyperechoic ribs, and measured 27.2 mm using caliber; while scanning of mild back myositis revealed a hypoechoic area with loss of muscle homogenicity and measured 44.1mm, While severely affected horses revealed hyperechoic fibrin deposit replacing the muscle region and measured 48.2 mm. The results obtained from this study is: 1-Horses with severe rhabdomyolysis were associated with marked elemental, hemato-biochemical as well as sonographic alterations, while cases of myositis and back pain showed slight laboratory changes. 2- Using US scan alone to diagnose horses suffering from the some MSDs was not really conclusive, whilst a combination among thorough clinical examination and serum biochemical analyses, as well as application of US could facilitate early diagnosis of the studied diseases and help detect the severity of the case.3- With the aid of sonograms, fine details of lesions could be discovered and scanning of non-symptomatic affections would be performed at an earlier time.