7. Keraphyllocele
(Horn Tumor).
A keraphyllocele is a more or less sharply bounded horn tumor projecting from the inner surface of the wall.
Fig. 199.
A section of wall at the toe showing a Keraphyllocele (horn-leaf tumor): a, coronary border; b, plantar border; c, body of tumor; d, base of tumor presenting funnel-shaped opening discharging pus.
Its occurrence is rare. Its favorite seat is at the toe. It rarely causes lameness. It can only be diagnosed with certainty when it extends downward to the lower border of the wall. In this case there may be seen a half-moon-shaped thickening of the white line which rounds inward upon the edge of the sole, and is of a waxen color. Frequently the horn at this place crumbles away, leaving a more or less dark-colored cavity from which there sometimes escapes a small quantity of dark-grayish pus.
Causes.—Chronic inflammation of the podophyllous tissue, resulting from compression or bruising. Keraphyllocele frequently follows a complete toe-crack of long duration, or a deep calk-wound at the coronet.
Prognosis.—Unfavorable, whether there is lameness or not. If there is no lameness it is very apt to arise later, and if lameness is already present it can only be removed by an operation, which should be performed by a veterinarian. A return of the lameness following hard work at a trot upon hard roads is always to be feared.
Shoeing.—An ordinary shoe well concaved underneath the inflamed region, which should be relieved of all pressure.[5]