Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Nerve stimulation effects on heart rhythm in dogs
By Wan, Juyi et al.·Published in Heart rhythm·2019·Krannert Institute of Cardiology and Division of Cardiology, China·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Antiarrhythmic and proarrhythmic effects of subcutaneous nerve stimulation in ambulatory dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study involving 22 dogs tested a treatment called subcutaneous nerve stimulation (ScNS) to see how it affected heart rhythm problems known as paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT). The dogs were divided into groups receiving different levels of stimulation for two months. The results showed that higher levels of stimulation significantly reduced the duration of PAT episodes and heart rate compared to the sham group, while lower levels increased certain nerve growth markers. Overall, high output ScNS appeared to help stabilize heart rhythms in these dogs.
People also search for: dog heart rhythm problems · treatment for dog atrial tachycardia · subcutaneous nerve stimulation for dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: High output subcutaneous nerve stimulation (ScNS) remodels the stellate ganglia and suppresses cardiac arrhythmia. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that long duration low output ScNS causes cardiac nerve sprouting and increases plasma norepinephrine concentration and the duration of paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT) in ambulatory dogs. METHODS: We prospectively randomized 22 dogs (11 males and 11 females) into 5 different output groups for 2 months of ScNS: 0 mA (sham) (n = 6), 0.25 mA (n = 4), 1.5 mA (n = 4), 2.5 mA (n = 4), and 3.5 mA (n = 4). RESULTS: As compared with baseline, the changes in the durations of PAT episodes per 48 hours were significantly different among different groups (sham, -5.0 ± 9.5 seconds; 0.25 mA, 95.5 ± 71.0 seconds; 1.5 mA, -99.3 ± 39.6 seconds; 2.5 mA, -155.3 ± 87.8 seconds; and 3.5 mA, -76.3 ± 44.8 seconds; P < .001). The 3.5 mA group had a greater reduction in sinus heart rate than did the sham group (-29.8 ± 15.0 beats/min vs -14.5 ± 3.0 beats/min; P = .038). Immunohistochemical studies showed that the 0.25 mA group had a significantly increased while 2.5 mA and 3.5 mA stimulation had significantly reduced growth-associated protein 43 nerve densities in both atria and ventricles. The plasma norepinephrine concentrations in the 0.25 mA group was 5063.0 ± 4366.0 pg/mL, which was significantly higher than that in the other groups of dogs (739.3 ± 946.3; P = .009). There were no significant differences in the effects of simulation between males and females. CONCLUSION: In ambulatory dogs, low output ScNS causes cardiac nerve sprouting and increases plasma norepinephrine concentration and the duration of PAT episodes while high output ScNS is antiarrhythmic.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30818091/