Evaluation of left ventricular function with echodopplercardiogrphy in Arabian Purebreed horses after treadmill stress test

• Grant number: 21/06368-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: José Corrêa de Lacerda Neto
• Grantee: Gabriel Vieira Ramos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Among the various expanding areas related to equine medicine, cardiology receives special attention to its advances in the development of cardiac assessment protocols, with electrocardiography and echocardiography being the most recurrent exams. To this end, several studies focused on equine cardiology are published annually. These studies have great value in the training of veterinarians and contribute to making cardiological examinations part of the clinical routine and, in addition, they are of paramount importance for equine sports medicine for the cardiological monitoring of equine athletes, since high-powered horses performance are likely to have cardiovascular diseases. The present study aims to assess left ventricular function after exercise in healthy horses using four identical stress tests (TStress), interspersed for three-week periods, followed by ecoDopplerocardiographic assessments. For this purpose, 12 Arabian purebred (PA) horses, aged between 24 and 30 months and body weight (BW) of 412 ± 43.39 kg will be used. Prior to each test, the animals will be submitted to an ecoDopplercardiographic examination using a commercial ultrasound system (MyLabAlpha, Esaote, Italy). To obtain the images before the TStress (baseline), the right and left parasternal windows will be used with visualization of the images of the long and short axes. The following modes will be used for each TStress performed, respectively: 1) Two-dimensional mode, 2) M mode, 3) Pulsed wave Doppler and 4) Tissue Doppler imaging. After the baseline measurements are completed, the TStress will start, which has two periods (shots) of high speed (7.5 and 8.5 m / s, respectively) between which there will be a maintenance period of longer duration and less speed. At the end of each Tstress, new echocardiographic measurements will be taken, immediately after the second shot when the heart rate (HR) is greater than 100 bpm. The linear values obtained by Mode M will be normalized to the BW of each animal. The statistical analysis will include analysis of variance (ANOVA), verification of the normality of residues, homogeneity of variances and multiple comparisons between data made at 5% significance level.