FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 9000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Home / Equine Research Bank / Animals (Basel) / Can Acute Neurological Disease Cause Cardiomyopathy in Horse...
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2025; 15(10); doi: 10.3390/ani15101447

Can Acute Neurological Disease Cause Cardiomyopathy in Horses?

Abstract: In human medicine, neurological diseases have been associated with transient cardiac abnormalities. In horses, myocardial disease is rarely diagnosed and has been associated with a wide variety of causes. The aim of this article is to describe three horses with no previous cardiac disease, which all developed severe cardiomyopathy following neurological disease. A 5-year-old Shetland pony stallion was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy with arrhythmias following an episode of seizures caused by an accidental intra-arterial xylazine injection. A 20-year-old crossbred mare was hospitalised for an open fracture of the left maxillary bone with copious epistaxis from both nostrils and developed acute cardiomyopathy with arrhythmias following a venous air embolism. Both had elevated troponin concentrations. Multifocal areas of haemorrhages and coagulative necrosis within the myocardium were found at the post-mortem examination of a 4-year-old thoroughbred gelding who died shortly after suffering acute brain injury following a backward fall. Based on this report, we suggest that myocardial injury can also occur in horses following neurological disease. Equine patients with acute neurological disease may benefit from cardiac monitoring; otherwise, patients with unspecific or mild symptoms of cardiomyopathy are likely to remain unidentified. The prognosis associated with this type of cardiac disease remains to be defined.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2025-05-16 PubMed ID: 40427323PubMed Central: PMC12108328DOI: 10.3390/ani15101447Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Case Reports
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The study is centered on the hypothesis that acute neurological diseases can induce cardiomyopathy, a serious heart disease, in horses. The researchers aimed to prove this by presenting cases of three horses that developed severe cardiomyopathy following incidents of neurological disease.

Objective and Methodology

  • The study’s focus was on a potentially new cause of cardiomyopathy in horses; an acute neurological disease. The research was based on three distinct cases of horses that suffered severe cardiomyopathy after episodes of neurological disorders.
  • The method used was a case study review, wherein the researchers studied the horse’s health history, and the onset and progression of their respective neurological diseases, and subsequent heart conditions.

Synopsis of the Cases

  • The first case revolved around a 5-year-old Shetland pony stallion, with a history of seizures induced by an accidental intra-arterial injection of Xylazine. The pony was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy along with arrhythmias.
  • The second case was of a 20-year-old crossbred mare that was brought in for the treatment of an open fracture in the left maxillary bone, combined with severe nosebleeds. Post-treatment, the mare developed acute cardiomyopathy with arrhythmias due to a venous air embolism.
  • The third case mentioned a 4-year-old thoroughbred gelding, which suffered from acute brain injury after a backward fall. The gelding passed away shortly after the incident, and post-mortem tests revealed multifocal areas of hemorrhage and coagulative necrosis within the myocardium.

Conclusions and Recommendations

  • Based on the cases reviewed, the researchers concluded that myocardial injury can occur in horses following neurological diseases. These injuries can lead to severe cardiomyopathy, disrupting the normal heart functions.
  • However, it was also observed that such cardiac abnormalities remain largely unidentified due to their unspecific or mild symptoms.
  • The researchers suggested that horses with acute neurological diseases might benefit from routine cardiac monitoring, which could help in early detection and treatment of developing heart conditions.
  • Finally, they argued that the prognosis of this type of cardiac disease needs to be further researched and defined.

Cite This Article

APA
Vitale V, Velloso Álvarez A, de la Cuesta-Torrado M, Neira-Egea P, Vandecandelaere M, Tee E, Gimeno M, van Galen G. (2025). Can Acute Neurological Disease Cause Cardiomyopathy in Horses? Animals (Basel), 15(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15101447

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 15
Issue: 10

Researcher Affiliations

Vitale, Valentina
  • Hospital Clínico Veterinario, Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, 46115 Valencia, Spain.
  • Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Velloso Álvarez, Ana
  • Hospital Clínico Veterinario, Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, 46115 Valencia, Spain.
de la Cuesta-Torrado, María
  • Hospital Clínico Veterinario, Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, 46115 Valencia, Spain.
Neira-Egea, Patricia
  • Hospital Clínico Veterinario, Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, 46115 Valencia, Spain.
Vandecandelaere, Marie
  • Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
  • Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital, Congupna, VIC 3633, Australia.
Tee, Elizabeth
  • Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Gimeno, Marina
  • Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
  • Department of Primary Industries, Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, Woodbridge Road, Menangle, Sydney, NSW 2568, Australia.
van Galen, Gaby
  • Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
  • Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital, Congupna, VIC 3633, Australia.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

This article includes 31 references
  1. Decloedt A. Pericardial Disease, Myocardial Disease, and Great Vessel Abnormalities in Horses. Vet. Clin. N. Am. Equine Pract. 2019;35:139–157.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cveq.2018.12.005pubmed: 30871834google scholar: lookup
  2. Van Loon G. Inflammatory myocardial disease and toxicity in horses—A recent update. Proceedings of the Veterinary Cardiovascular Meeting; Loughnorough, UK. 9–10 November 2012.
  3. Bulsara K.R., McGirt M.J., Liao L., Villavicencio A.T., Borel C., Alexander M.J., Friedman A.H. Use of the peak troponin value to differentiate myocardial infarction from reversible neurogenic left ventricular dysfunction associated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. J. Neurosurg. 2003;98:524–528.
    doi: 10.3171/jns.2003.98.3.0524pubmed: 12650423google scholar: lookup
  4. Fodstad H., Kelly P.J., Buchfelder M. History of the cushing reflex. Neurosurgery 2006;59:1132–1137.
    doi: 10.1227/01.NEU.0000245582.08532.7Cpubmed: 17143247google scholar: lookup
  5. Qian R., Yang W., Wang X., Xu Z., Liu X., Sun B. Evaluation of cerebral-cardiac syndrome using echocardiography in a canine model of acute traumatic brain injury. Am. J. Cardiovasc. Dis. 2015;5:72–76.
    pmc: PMC4447077pubmed: 26064794
  6. Scheitz J.F., Sposato L.A., Schulz-Menger J., Nolte C.H., Backs J., Endres M. Stroke-Heart Syndrome: Recent Advances and Challenges. J. Am. Heart Assoc. 2022;11:e026528.
    doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.026528pmc: PMC9496419pubmed: 36056731google scholar: lookup
  7. Piliponis L., Neverauskaitė-Piliponienė G., Kazlauskaitė M., Kačnov P., Glaveckaitė S., Barysienė J., Ročka S. Neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: A literature review. Semin. Cardiovasc. Med. 2019;25:44–52.
    doi: 10.2478/semcard-2019-0006google scholar: lookup
  8. Kenigsberg B.B., Barnett C.F., Mai C., Chang J.J. Neurogenic Stunned Myocardium in Severe Neurological Injury. Curr. Neurol. Neurosci. Rep. 2019;19:90.
    doi: 10.1007/s11910-019-0999-7pubmed: 31720870google scholar: lookup
  9. Wittstein I.S., Thiemann D.R., Lima J.A., Baughman K.L., Schulman S.P., Gerstenblith G., Wu K.C., Rade J.J., Bivalacqua T.J., Champion H.C. Neurohumoral features of myocardial stunning due to sudden emotional stress. N. Engl. J. Med. 2005;352:539–548.
    doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa043046pubmed: 15703419google scholar: lookup
  10. Marr C.M., Patteson M. Echocardiography. In: Marr C.M., Bowen I.M., editors. Cardiology of the Horse. 2nd ed. Saunders Ltd.; Edinburgh, NY, USA: 2010. pp. 105–126.
  11. Trachsel D.S., Calloe K., Rgensen E.J., Jørgensen E., Lunddahl C.S., Pedersen P.J., Kanters J.K., Buhl R. Evaluation of electrocardiographic repolarization parameters after administration of trimethoprim-sulfadiazine, detomidine, or their combination in horses. Am. J. Vet. Res. 2021;82:207–217.
    doi: 10.2460/ajvr.82.3.207pubmed: 33629897google scholar: lookup
  12. Van Loon J.P., Van Dierendonck M.C. Monitoring equine head-related pain with the Equine Utrecht University scale for facial assessment of pain (EQUUS-FAP). Vet. J. 2017;220:88–90.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2017.01.006pubmed: 28190503google scholar: lookup
  13. Gherasim L. Takotsubo Syndrome vs. Neurogenic Stunned Myocardium. Maedica 2020;15:288–296.
    doi: 10.26574/maedica.2020.15.3.288pmc: PMC7726496pubmed: 33312241google scholar: lookup
  14. Wilson D.A., Wannamaker B.B., Malek A.M., Selassie A.W. Myocardial infarction after epilepsy onset: A population-based retrospective cohort study. Epilepsy Behav. 2018;88:181–188.
    doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.09.009pubmed: 30292053google scholar: lookup
  15. Ruiz Bailén M., R쪺do Aguilar L., López Martínez A. Aturdimiento miocárdico neurogénico. Med. Intensiv. 2006;30:13–18.
    doi: 10.1016/S0210-5691(06)74456-4pubmed: 16637426google scholar: lookup
  16. Thygesen K., Alpert J.S., White H.D. Universal definition of myocardial infarction. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2007;50:2173–2195.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2007.09.011pubmed: 18036459google scholar: lookup
  17. Weis R., Carstensen H., Sattler S.M., Buhl R., Hesselkilde E.M. Electrocardiographic Changes in a Horse with Induced Myocardial Infarction. Animals 2022;12:1272.
    doi: 10.3390/ani12101272pmc: PMC9137605pubmed: 35625118google scholar: lookup
  18. Reef V.B., Bonagura J., Buhl R., McGurrin M.K.J., Schwarzwald C.C., van Loon G., Young L.E. Recommendations for management of equine athletes with cardiovascular abnormalities. J. Vet. Intern. Med. 2014;28:749–761.
    doi: 10.1111/jvim.12340pmc: PMC4895474pubmed: 24628586google scholar: lookup
  19. Navas de Solis C., Dallap Schaer B.L., Boston R., Slack J. Myocardial insult and arrhythmias after acute hemorrhage in horses. J. Vet. Emerg. Crit. Care. 2015;25:248–255.
    doi: 10.1111/vec.12295pubmed: 25752472google scholar: lookup
  20. Parkinson N.J., McKenzie H.C., Barton M.H., Davis J.L., Dunkel B., Johnson A.L., MacDonald E.S. Catheter-associated venous air embolism in hospitalized horses: 32 cases. J. Vet. Intern. Med. 2018;32:805–814.
    doi: 10.1111/jvim.15057pmc: PMC5866986pubmed: 29460300google scholar: lookup
  21. Scott R.A., Rabinstein A.A. Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity. Semin. Neurol. 2020;40:485–491.
    doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1713845pubmed: 32906174google scholar: lookup
  22. Verma R., Giri P., Rizvi I. Paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity in neurological critical care. Indian J. Crit. Care Med. 2015;19:34–37.
    pmc: PMC4296409pubmed: 25624648
  23. Gherasim L., Nistor R. Neurogenic Stunned Myocardium as Part of Stress Cardiomyopathy. Maedica 2022;17:902–910.
    doi: 10.26574/maedica.2022.17.4.902pmc: PMC9923071pubmed: 36818246google scholar: lookup
  24. Van Der Vekens N., Decloedt A., Ven S., De Clercq D., van Loon G. Cardiac troponin I as compared to troponin T for the detection of myocardial damage in horses. J. Vet. Intern. Med. 2015;29:348–354.
    doi: 10.1111/jvim.12530pmc: PMC4858065pubmed: 25619522google scholar: lookup
  25. Bieber M., Werner R.A., Tanai E., Hofmann U., Higuchi T., Schuh K., Heuschmann P.U., Frantz S., Ritter O., Kraft P.. Stroke-induced chronic systolic dysfunction driven by sympathetic overactivity. Ann. Neurol. 2017;82:729–743.
    doi: 10.1002/ana.25073pmc: PMC5765487pubmed: 29023958google scholar: lookup
  26. Gehlen H., Marnette S., Rohn K., Stadler P. Stress echocardiography in warmblood horses: Comparison of dobutamine/atropine with treadmill exercise as cardiac stressors. J. Vet. Intern. Med. 2006;20:562–568.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2006.tb02897.xpubmed: 16734090google scholar: lookup
  27. Sandersen C., Detilleux J., Art T., Amory H. Exercise and pharmacological stress echocardiography in healthy horses. Equine Vet. J. 2006;38((Suppl. S36)):159–162.
    doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2006.tb05533.xpubmed: 17402412google scholar: lookup
  28. Vitale V., Vezzosi T., Di Franco C., Briganti A., Tognetti R., Conte G., Bucchioni E., Sgorbini M. Equine echocardiography: Can dobutamine infusion correct alterations due to sedation with alpha-2 agonists?. PLoS ONE 2022;17:e0276256.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276256pmc: PMC9578622pubmed: 36256667google scholar: lookup
  29. Durando M. Exercise and stress testing. In: Marr C.M., Bowen I.M., editors. Cardiology of the Horse. 2nd ed. Saunders Ltd.; Edinburgh, NY, USA: 2010. pp. 139–149.
  30. Lyon A.R., Bossone E., Schneider B., Sechtem U., Citro R., Underwood S.R., Sheppard M.N., Figtree G.A., Parodi G., Akashi Y.J.. Current state of knowledge on Takotsubo syndrome: A Position Statement from the Taskforce on Takotsubo Syndrome of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur. J. Heart Fail. 2016;18:8–27.
    doi: 10.1002/ejhf.424pubmed: 26548803google scholar: lookup
  31. Biso S., Wongrakpanich S., Agrawal A., Yadlapati S., Kishlyansky M., Figueredo V. A Review of Neurogenic Stunned Myocardium. Cardiovasc. Psychiatry Neurol. 2017;2017:5842182.
    doi: 10.1155/2017/5842182pmc: PMC5569748pubmed: 28875040google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,359 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.