README file
Dataset Title: “Signalment, clinical data and visualization, distribution and ultrasound (US) appearance of meconium obtained through a Focused Ultrasound (FUS) protocol, in healthy and sick neonatal foals.”
Dataset Authors:
•	Alessandra Maggi (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0009-0007-9884-4437);
•	Nicola Ellero (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0002-4788-7986);
•		Valeria Busoni (Diagnostic Imaging Section, Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals and Equids, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Sart-Tilman, 4000 Liège, Belgium), ORCID (0000-0002-4128-4471);
•		Ilaria Imposimato (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0003-4444-8061);
•		Carolina Castagnetti (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0001-5533-7637);
•		Aliai Lanci (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0002-9828-4317);
•		Jole Mariella (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0003-4881-3898);
•		Francesca Freccero (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0002-1645-2111).
Data Set Contact Person:
•		Nicola Ellero (Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (DIMEVET), University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy), ORCID (0000-0002-4788-7986);
Email address: nicola.ellero3@unibo.it
Data Set License: this data set is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publication Year: 2026

Data set Contents
The dataset consists of:
•	2 tabular files saved in .csv format
•		“MeconiumDistribution_Signalment_ClinicalData.csv”
•	“MeconiumDistribution_Visualization_Appearance.csv”
•	1 README file saved in .rtf format
•		“MeconiumDistribution_README.rtf”
Abstract
This dataset provides information on healthy and sick neonatal foals, including signalment, clinical data, and meconium distribution obtained using a Focused Ultrasound (FUS) protocol based on 9 standardized abdominal windows. It contains data on visualization, distribution, and ultrasound (US) appearance of meconium across the 9 abdominal windows and along the large intestine tracts, supporting research on ultrasonographic assessment of neonatal foals’ abdomen to monitor meconium presence and distribution over time and treatment.
Content of the files
•	File “MeconiumDistribution_Signalment_ClinicalData.csv” contains signalment and clinical data of healthy and sick neonatal foals undergoing evaluation with Focused Ultrasound (FUS) protocol.
•		File “MeconiumDistribution_Visualization_Appearance.csv” contains data on meconium visualization, distribution and US appearance obtained using a Focused Ultrasound (FUS) protocol in healthy and sick neonatal foals.
File specifications
.cvs files were created using the following specifications:
•	Character set: UTF-8
•	Field delimiter: semicolon (;)
Methodology
Thirty-six client-owned foals under 7 days of age, born at or admitted to the Veterinary University Hospital (VUH) of the University of Bologna, Italy, during the 2024 foaling season, were included. For each foal, breed, sex (male/female), age (hours or days), weight (kg), diagnosis, and outcome (survived/euthanized) were recorded. Foals were classified as healthy or sick based on clinical examination, blood tests, and IgG levels.
Healthy and sick foals underwent a Focused Ultrasound (FUS) protocol once during hospitalization using a portable Philips CX50 ultrasound with a curvilinear 5–1 MHz transducer. The FUS protocol included nine abdominal windows (3 on the right side, 3 on the ventral abdomen, and 3 on the left side), performed without sedation and using 90° denatured ethyl alcohol for acoustic coupling. Each window was recorded as a 10-seconds video clip and a still image in DICOM format.
US images were subsequently reviewed for meconium visualization, distribution and appearance. Image analysis data were collected in .csv file “MeconiumDistribution_Visualization_Appearance.csv”
The data distribution was tested with Shapiro-Wilk test. Most of the data did not follow a normal distribution.
List of variables
All the variables included in the dataset are self-explanatory. The abbreviations requiring explanation are listed in the table below:
NCD	Nephro-cecum-duodenal	
VLDX	Right ventro-lateral abdomen	
HDC	Hepato-duodeno-colic	
HGV	Hypo-gastric ventral	
MGV	Meso-gastric ventral	
RSV	Retro-sternal ventral	
NS	Nephro-splenic	
VLSX	Left ventro-lateral abdomen	
SG	Spleno-gastric	
n.v.	Not visualized	
/	Not assessable