Recent studies in the field of Internal Medicine
New Treatment Approach for Headshaking - Study Participants Wanted!
Headshaking is a condition in horses characterized by persistent or intermittent, spontaneous, repetitive, and usually vertical movements of the head and neck. Headshaking is often caused by trigeminal neuropathy (so-called trigeminal-mediated headshaking). To date, no single therapeutic method has been universally successful.
In human medicine, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been used as a treatment method for several years. This has yielded good results and also achieved long-term pain relief. In a previous study, we were able to show that rTMS also led to treatment success in horses, although this was only short-lived.
You can find the paper here: Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on trigeminal-mediated headshaking in 17 horses
The follow-up study now aims to evaluate whether a higher stimulation intensity leads to a longer-lasting effect.
You can find more information here: Call for participants: rTMS 2025 (PDF, 2,306 KB)
Siderophages are macrophages that have phagocytosed erythrocytes. Hem siderin is an iron-containing protein complex that forms intracellularly as a breakdown product of hemoglobin (the red blood pigment) following bleeding in the lungs. The gold standard for detecting these cells is a bronchoalveolar lavage stained with “Berlin blue.” The aim of this study, conducted in collaboration with the EquiZyt UG laboratory, is to investigate whether tracheobronchial secretions could also serve as an alternative for the diagnosis of hemosiderophages. In addition, each sample will be evaluated using both the standard “DiffQuick” staining method and the specialized “Berlin blue” staining for iron, in order to compare the detection rates of the two staining methods.
Publications in the field of Internal Medicine
2025
- Pain assessment of horses with trigeminal-mediated headshaking (TMHS) at rest between episodes.Franzen V, Reisbeck D, Leibl Y, Schoster A, May A.
JVIM. 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.70064
2024
- Acidification is required for calcium and magnesium concentration measurements in equine urine.
Lapsina S, Stirn M, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Schoster A, Riond B.
BMC Vet Res. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-023-03848-1 - Treatment approaches to horses with acute diarrhea admitted to referral institutions: A multicenter retrospective study.
Gomez DE, Dunkel B, Renaud DL, Arroyo L, Schoster A, Kopper JJ, Dunkel B, Byrne D, the MEDS group, Toribio RE
PlosOne. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313783 - Immune response after vaccination against Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) in horses.
Kaelin D, BecsekA , Stuermer H, Bachofen C, Siegrist D, Jonsdottir HR, Schoster A.
Vaccines. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12091074 - Phenotypic shift of inflammatory eosinophil subset into steady-state resident phenotype after 2 years of vaccination against IL-5 in equine insect bite hypersensitivity.
Schwarz E, Jebbawi F, Keller G, Rhiner T, Fricker A, Waldern N, Canonica F, Schoster A, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.
Veterinary Science Journal. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11100476 - Acute leptospirosis in horses: A retrospective study of 11 cases (2015-2023).
Ramsay L, Eberhardt C, Schoster A.
JVIM. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.17184 - Clinical findings and outcome predictors for equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis: 46 cases (2009-2019).
Craven A, Todd-Donato A, Stokol T, Liepman R, Glasberg I, Wilkins P, Luethy D, Wong D, Schoster A, van den Brom-Spierenburg A, Tomlinson J.
JVIM. 2024
DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.17084 - Serological and Molecular Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in Horses and Cattle in Switzerland from 2020 to 2022.
Hüttl J, Reitt K, Meli M, Meili T, Boenzli, E, Pineroli B, Ginders J, Schoster A, Jones S, Tyson GB, Hosie MJ, Pusterla N, Wernike K, Hofmann-Lehmann R.
Viruses. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v16020224
2023
- Survival rates and factors associated with survival and laminitis of horses with acute diarrhoea admitted to referral institutions.
Gomez DE, Dunkel B, Renaud DL, Arroyo L, Schoster A, Kopper JJ, Dunkel B, Byrne D, the MEDS group, Toribio RE.
EVJ. 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14032 - Diagnostic approaches, aetiological agents and their associations with short-term survival and laminitis in horses with acute diarrhoea admitted to referral institutions.
Gomez DE, Arroyo L, Schoster A, Renaud DL, Kopper JJ, Dunkel B, Byrne D, the MEDS group, Toribio RE.
EVJ. 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14024 - Interleukin 5-dependent inflammatory eosinophil subtype involved in allergic insect bite hypersensitivity of horses.
Pantelyushin S, Rhiner T, Jebbawi F, Sella F, Waldern N, Lam J, Chemnitzer A, Fricker A, Schoster A, Birkmann A, Widmer D, Canonica F, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.
Allergy. 2023 ;00:1-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/all.15859 - Preliminary Investigation of Side Effects of Polymyxin B Administration in Hospitalized Horses.
van Spijk Julia, Beckmann K, Wehrli-Eser M, Boxler M, Stirn M, Saleh L, Schoster A.
Antibiotics. 2023 12(5)854
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12050854
2022
- Targeting eosinophils by active vaccination against interleukin-5 reduces basophil counts in horses with insect bite hypersensitivity in the 2nd year of vaccination.
Rhiner T, Fettelschoss V, Schoster A, Birkmann K, Fettelschoss-Gabriel.
Vet J. 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2022.105896 - Neurological disease suspected due to tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in six horses in Switzerland.
Magouras I, Schoster A, Fouché N, Gerber V, Groschup M, Fricker R, Ziegler U, Griot C, Vögtlin A.
J Vet Intern Med. 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16533 - Investigation of adverse effects of polymyxin B administration in healthy horses.
van Spijk J, Beckmann K, Wehrli-Eser M, Boxler M, Stirn M, Ryhner T, Kälin D, Saleh L, Schoster A.
J Vet Intern Med. 2022 36:1525-1534
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16470 - Outbreak of equine coronavirus disease in adult horses, Switzerland 2021.
Hierweger M, Remy-Wohlfender F, Franzen J, Koch MC, Blau D, Schoster A, Nicholson P, Gerber V, Gurtner C, Fouche N, Unger L, Seuberlich T.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 69:1691–1694
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.14501
2021
- Diagnosis of atypical myopathy based on organic acid and acylcarnitine profiles and evolution of biomarkers in surviving horses.
Mathis D, Sass OJ, Graubner C, Schoster A.
Molecular Genetics Metabolism Reports. 2021 29:100827
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymgmr.2021.100827 - Prevalence of Nasal Shedding of Equid Gammaherpesviruses in Healthy Swiss Horses.
Scheurer L, Bachofen C, Hardmeier I, Lechmann J, Schoster A.
Viruses. 2021, 13, 1686.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v13091686 - Effect of Exercise on electrical impedance tomography derived from flow variables in horses with equine asthma.
Herteman N, Mosing M, Blaszczyk K, Graubner C, Lanz S, Gerber V, Waldmann A, Schoster A.
J Vet Intern Med. 2021, 35: 2500–2510. Accepted.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16260
Publications on the topic of Headshaking
- Trigeminal-mediated headshaking in horses
May A, Franzen V
Equine Veterinary Education. 37 (2025)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.14203 - Pain assessment of horses with trigeminal-mediated headshaking (TMHS) at rest between episodes.
Franzen V, Reisbeck D, Leibl Y, Schoster A, May A
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. (2025)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.70064 - Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on trigeminal-mediated headshaking in 17 horses.
Franzen V, Gruber N, Klußmann S, Schoster A, May A.
JVIM. (2024)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.17194