Original Research
Use of the cardiopulmonary flow index to evaluate cardiac function in Thoroughbred horses
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association | Vol 62, No 2 | a1586 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jsava.v62i2.1586
| © 2020 A. J. Guthrie, Valerie M. Killeen, Maria S.G. Mülders, J. F.W. Grosskopf
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 31 August 2017 | Published: 30 June 1991
Submitted: 31 August 2017 | Published: 30 June 1991
About the author(s)
A. J. Guthrie, Equine Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South AfricaValerie M. Killeen, Equine Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Maria S.G. Mülders, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
J. F.W. Grosskopf, Department of Veterinary Physiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Full Text:
PDF (389KB)Abstract
The ratio of the cardiopulmonary blood volume to stroke volume is called the cardiopulmonary flow index (CPFI). The CPFI can be determined indirectly from the simultaneous recording of a radio cardiogram and an electrocardiogram. The CPFI and cardiac output were measured simultaneously in horses (n = 10) that were diagnosed as having cardiac disease. The diseased subjects were probably all exposed to feed contaminated with the ionophore, salinomycin, and all showed clinical signs indicative of chronic toxic myocarditis. The results obtained from these subjects were compared with those from control animals and significant differences (P < 0,05) were found between the mean CPFI of the control horses and those with macroscopically visible myocardial fibrosis on post mortem examination. No significant differences were found between the means of the cardiac output measured in either of the groups of horses. The effect of pharmacological acceleration of the heart rate on the CPFI was also studied. Significant differences (P < 0,05) were found between the mean CPFI and the slopes of the regression lines of CPFI on heart rate of the control and principal groups of horses. These differences were greatest at heart rates near to the resting heart rates of the individuals. The CPFI was found to be a more sensitive measure of cardiac function than cardiac output, in the horses.
Keywords
Equine; cardiopulmonary flow index; cardiac function
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