Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Horses: Pathophysiology, Diagnostics and Clinical Aspects.

Animals (Basel). March 2022;12(6):.

Sofie Troest Kjeldsen¹, Sarah Dalgas Nissen², Rikke Buhl³, Charlotte Hopster-Iversen⁴

¹ Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Agrovej 8, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark.; ² Laboratory of Cardiac Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.; ³ Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Agrovej 8, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark.; ⁴ Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Agrovej 8, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in horses causing poor performance. As in humans, the condition can be intermittent in nature, known as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAF). This review covers the literature relating to pAF in horses and includes references to the human literature to compare pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic tools and treatment. The arrhythmia is diagnosed by auscultation and electrocardiography (ECG), and clinical signs can vary from sudden loss of racing performance to reduced fitness or no signs at all. If left untreated, pAF may promote electrical, functional and structural remodeling of the myocardium, thus creating a substrate that is able to maintain the arrhythmia, which over time may progress into permanent AF. Long-term ECG monitoring is essential for diagnosing the condition and fully understanding the duration and frequency of pAF episodes. The potential to adapt human cardiac monitoring systems and computational ECG analysis is therefore of interest and may benefit future diagnostic tools in equine medicine.

Keywords

arrhythmia; electrocardiogram; equine cardiology; implantable loop recorder; long-term monitoring device; paroxysmal atrial fibrillation; poor performance;

Article Tools:

Medline

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Duration of efficacy and effect of implant location in adult queens treated with a 9.4 mg deslorelin subcutaneous implant.
The average duration of action of the 9.4 mg deslorelin implant was 790 ± 155 days (range 525-1140 days) with no significant difference in duration or efficacy depending on implantation sites. The 9.4 mg deslorelin implant causes pharmacological sterilization for about 2 years in female cats, is fully reversible, and caused no clinically relevant side effects when administered at both interscapular and periumbilical sites.

The relationship between radiographic disc calcification score and FGF4L2 genotype in dachshunds.
Most dachshunds with 1 FGF4L2 copy have radiographic disc calcification scores that are associated with substantially lower risk of symptomatic disc disease. Radiographic disc calcification scores are similar in dachshunds with 0 and 1 FGF4L2 copies. Given the high allele frequency of FGF4L2, breeding to produce progeny with 1 FGF4L2 copy is expected to be a more achievable short-term goal for dachshund spinal health breeding programs than breeding for 0 copies. It is recommended that both K-n and FGF4L2 genotype status be considered when choosing dachshund breeding stock.

Recovery of ambulation in small, nonbrachycephalic dogs after conservative management of acute thoracolumbar disk extrusion.
Forty-nine of fifty-one (96%) of deep pain-positive and 10/21 (48%) of deep pain-negative dogs recovered ambulation within the 12-week period. The median time to ambulation was 11 and 25 days for deep pain-positive and -negative dogs, respectively. Reduction in spinal cord compression varied among individuals from minimal to complete and apparently was unrelated to the recovery of ambulation.

Canine distemper outbreak and laryngeal paralysis in captive tigers (Panthera tigris).
All suspected and confirmed cases of CDV infections were significantly associated with laryngeal inflammation, which developed into paralysis in almost 50% of cases. Altogether, 50% of all tiger cases with chronic infection developed stridor at 314 days after virus infection. Therefore, laryngeal paralysis may result from CDV infection and degeneration, potentially affecting the peripheral and central nervous systems. This condition could pose a life-threatening risk to tigers.

Trust in veterinarians and association with vaccine information sources and vaccination status among dog and cat owners.
62.9% of dog and 61.2% of cat owners were classified as trusting their veterinarians. On average, dog owners consulted 2.50 sources about vaccine information; cat owners consulted 2.27 sources. Veterinarians were the most common primary sources of information for 85.4% of dog owners with high levels of trust, but only 62.6% of dog owners with lower levels. This was the case for 83.8% and 56.3% of cat owners.