Equine Medicine & Surgery

Specialty Equine Services

Equine Cardiology

Our equine veterinary cardiologists work in conjuction with our small animal Cardiology service to provide diagnostic and therapeutic expertise for horses with heart murmurs, cardiac rhythm abnormalities, heart failure, congenital malformations of the heart, poor performance, and collapse. In addition we can offer management advice for owners and trainers of horses with cardiovascular abnormalities.

Our Equine Cardiology services include:

• Cardiovascular examination performed by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist.
Doppler echocardiographic imaging of the heart and major blood vessels to identify acquired and congenital cardiac abnormalities and to monitor the progression of heart disease.
• Standard electrocardiography (ECG) to record the electrical activity of the heart for specific diagnosis of a heart rhythm abnormality detected during physical examination.
• Doppler echocardiography, including state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging of the heart and major blood vessels. This imaging modality is safe and non-invasive and provides real-time images of the cardiac chambers and valves; precise measurements of chamber sizes, wall thicknesses, and cardiac motion (function); visualization of blood flow patterns within the heart and blood vessels; identification of infectious lesions and tumors within the heart.
• Continuous ECG monitoring for animals being treated for rhythm abnormalities of the heart such as rhythm disturbances due to colic, enteritis, and snake envenomation.
• Exercising ECG to observe whether a horse has cardiac rhythm abnormalities during exercise warm-up, during exercise, or at the termination of exercise that might affect performance or rider safety.
• Holter monitoring (24-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring) to provide a continuous recording of the ECG for 24 hours in horses with suspected heart rhythm abnormalities that are not documented during standard ECG.
• Cardiac event recording to provide an evaluation of the cardiac rhythm during an episode of clinical signs in horses with brief, intermittent signs such as fainting, episodic weakness, or brief collapse.
• Measurement of biomarkers of heart muscle damage (cardiac troponin I measurement) to aid in prognosis and follow response to treatment of horses with severe colic, shock, snake envenomation, or toxemia.
• Direct current cardioversion to restore normal heart rhythm in horses with sustained atrial fibrillation.
• Pacemaker implantation to prevent recurrent collapse in horses with abnormally slow heart rates.
• Intracardiac pressure measurement to confirm or refute the presence of heart failure or pulmonary hypertension.

Why Might My Horse Need an Appointment with Equine Cardiology?

The following are some of the most common reasons owners bring their horses to Equine Cardiology:

• Evaluation of heart murmurs in otherwise normal horses to determine exact cause of murmur and to obtain management advice including safety to riders and handlers
• Evaluation of abnormal cardiac rhythms (arrhythmias) and to obtain treatment/management advice
• Pre-purchase evaluation of heart murmurs in horses
• Evaluation of horses with fainting, collapse or episodic weakness
• To determine if poor cardiac function or intermittent heart rhythm abnormalities are causing poor performance in horses with deteriorating performance
• To determine whether heart failure or pulmonary hypertension is causing ventral edema or bleeding from the nose
• To restore normal rhythm to horses with lone atrial fibrillation
• To determine the cause of a heart murmur in a foal
• For treatment and management advice in horses/foals with suspected or confirmed heart disease