From Chronicle of the Horse Forum

Some of us with diagnosed D/E horses know that this disease has been compared to Marfan's. A member of the CotH forum has made some interesting observations regarding DSLD-ESPA, Marfans, and aortic aneurysms. Click here to read the post, and click here to read the entire thread.

Originally Posted by JER
...thought it might be worth mentioning here as the subject is aortic aneurysms.

A few years ago, there was a study done that recommended renaming Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD) as Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation (ESPA) as studies showed the causes of DSLD ... affected other parts of the body, including the aorta. ...

In human Marfan's, the aorta may leak and 'heal' at various intervals without creating a fatal rupture. I was wondering if this might be what's going on in horses. Perhaps the stress of XC in competition contributes to the final rupture.

Marfan's is a genetic mutation ... but I mention it because it's well-known and often results in a ruptured aorta.

Definitely something we should be looking at in event horses: is there a horse version of Marfan's?

Posted by Teach
I own a DSLD/ESPA horse right now--he was fine for years as a low-level dressage horse who occasionally would be jumped 2-2.5 feet or so, had some intermittent "back trouble" & what I initially thought was a 'mild suspensory pull', was on & off for a bit, then flared into full-blown DSLD ... One of the things we have been told is that DSLD/ESPA is indeed quite similar to Marfan's, & that sudden aortic rupture is often seen in these horses...