Blood lactate concentration as diagnostic predictors of uterine necrosis and its outcome in dairy cows with uterine torsion

In order to determine blood lactate concentrations (bLac) and their validity as a diagnostic marker in bovine uterine torsion, blood samples were taken from 54 Holstein cows with uterine torsion before the correction of torsion. bLac in a group of cows with and without uterine necrosis were 15.0 and 3.0 mmol/l, respectively (P<0.01). Moreover, bLac in a group of dead or culled dams and in that of survived dams were 10.2 and 3.1 mmol/l, respectively (P<0.01). Furthermore, the proposed diagnostic cutoffs for bLac based on ROC analysis for detection of uterine necrosis and poor prognosis in dams were set at >5.0 and >6.5 mmol/l, respectively. These findings suggest that in dairy cows with uterine torsion, an increase in bLac is a diagnostic predictor of uterine necrosis as well as poor prognosis in dams.