Electrocardiographic Changes in a Horse with Induced Myocardial Infarction

Simple Summary During acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the electrophysiological changes are clearly visible on the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), and are as such, an important diagnostic tool in human cardiology. Similar to humans, changes are seen on the ECG in both pigs and dogs, but so far, this has not been studied in horses, despite equine cardiology being a growing field. This study aimed to investigate the ECG changes seen with a 12-lead ECG in a horse with induced myocardial infarction. The ECG changes observed in this case report were comparable to other species with AMI and showed similar patterns throughout the different phases of occlusion. The results could, therefore, indicate that a 12-lead ECG can be used to detect signs of ischemic heart disease, such as AMI, in horses, while they also potentially elucidate certain translational connections between human and veterinary medicine. During acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the ischemia and necrosis of the infarcted tissue result in local electrophysiological changes, which bring about deviations of the ST segment and T wave. In this case report, the aim was to investigate whether these changes could be detected with a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) during acute occlusion of the coronary artery in a 15-year-old Standardbred mare (scheduled for euthanasia due to non-cardiac health problems). The left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was occluded using an angioplasty balloon catheter guided through the carotid artery. Two coronary occlusions of 30 min were induced, separated by a 10-min reperfusion phase. AMI led to ST deviations and T-wave amplitude changes (maximum ST deviation was 1.98 mV; T-wave amplitude increased from 6.58 to 9.25 mV). The ST segment almost returned to the baseline during the reperfusion phase. The ECG changes seen after the infarction were comparable to those reported in other species with AMI, suggesting that the 12-lead-ECG can potentially be used to detect signs of myocardial infarction in horses.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the ECG changes seen with a 12-lead ECG in a horse with induced myocardial infarction. The results suggest that a 12-lead ECG can potentially be used to detect signs of myocardial infarction in horses and elucidate certain translational connections between human and veterinary medicine. During acute myocardial infarction, the ischemia and necrosis of the infarcted tissue result in local electrophysiological changes, leading to deviations of the ST segment and T wave.