| Title: |
Can Acute Neurological Disease Cause Cardiomyopathy in Horses? |
| Authors: |
Valentina Vitale; Ana Velloso Álvarez; María de la Cuesta-Torrado; Patricia Neira-Egea; Marie Vandecandelaere; Elizabeth Tee; Marina Gimeno; Gaby van Galen |
| Source: |
Animals, Vol 15, Iss 10, p 1447 (2025) |
| Publisher Information: |
MDPI AG, 2025. |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
LCC:Veterinary medicine; LCC:Zoology |
| Subject Terms: |
equine; cardiac disease; myocardial necrosis; catecholamine; seizures; Veterinary medicine; SF600-1100; Zoology; QL1-991 |
| Description: |
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. |
| Document Type: |
article |
| File Description: |
electronic resource |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
2076-2615 |
| Relation: |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/10/1447; https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 |
| DOI: |
10.3390/ani15101447 |
| Access URL: |
https://doaj.org/article/a1efd3c174b44ec6bf41cbf283fbe3a6 |
| Accession Number: |
edsdoj.1efd3c174b44ec6bf41cbf283fbe3a6 |
| Database: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |