A survey of cardiac auscultatory findings in horses.

The research article presents an investigation of cardiac conditions in horses, which was conducted through auscultation. It reveals frequent occurrences of right-sided murmurs, indicative of tricuspid regurgitation, particularly in National Hunt racing Thoroughbreds.

Methodology

• The research employed auscultation, a physical examination method primarily used to listen to the internal sounds of an animal or human body, particularly the heart.
• This method was applied to a sample size of 545 horses, allowing the researchers to identify the presence of cardiac murmurs and arrhythmias.

Significant Findings

• The research discovered a high prevalence of right-sided holosystolic or pansystolic plateau-type murmurs. These symptoms are typically associated with a condition known as tricuspid regurgitation.
• This condition was found prominently in National Hunt racing Thoroughbreds across all ages, affecting approximately 16.4% of this group.
• Only a small percentage of flat-racing Thoroughbreds (4.7%), non-racing Thoroughbreds, and Thoroughbred crosses (3.7%) were found to have this condition.
• The condition was not observed in any ponies that were includes in the study.

Other Findings

• There were also high prevalences of left-sided early systolic murmurs, left-sided early diastolic murmurs, right-sided early diastolic murmurs, and second-degree atrioventricular block found in both types of racing horses.
• These conditions affected approximately 53%, 23%, 22%, and 23% of the racehorse population studied respectively.

Implications

• The results of the study provide important insights into the cardiac health of racehorses, particularly the prevalence of tricuspid regurgitation in National Hunt racing Thoroughbreds.
• Such findings will help in improving the medical protocols, horse breeding, and racing practices, aiming to reduce the prevalence of these cardiac conditions.