Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cardiac arrhythmias associated with piroplasmosis in the horse: a case report.
- Journal:
- Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)
- Year:
- 2007
- Authors:
- Diana, Alessia et al.
- Affiliation:
- Veterinary Clinical Department · Italy
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In this case, a horse was diagnosed with piroplasmosis, a disease caused by a parasite that can lead to serious health issues. The horse showed signs of not eating, being very tired, having a fever, yellowing of the skin and eyes, and brown urine. Blood tests revealed several abnormalities, and the horse also had irregular heartbeats and signs of heart muscle stress. After receiving specific treatment for the disease, the horse improved, and the symptoms and blood test results returned to normal. Overall, the treatment was successful in resolving the horse's health issues.
Abstract
Cardiac dysfunction is a rare complication of babesiosis in domestic animals. The horse in this report showed clinical signs of anorexia, depression, fever, icterus and brown urine, and laboratory results (monocytosis, thrombocytopenia, azotemia, hyperbilirubinemia and bilirubinuria) indicated sub-acute piroplasmosis. Furthermore, junctional and polymorphic ventricular premature complexes and tachycardia associated with increased serum cardiac troponin I and myocardial-bound creatine kinase concentration were found. The diagnosis of piroplasmosis was confirmed by serology. Specific and supportive therapy for babesiosis allowed remission of clinical signs and laboratory profile abnormalities, including those of myocardial involvement. Myocardial damage associated with cardiac arrhythmia may be a complication of equine babesiosis as already demonstrated in other species.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16765620/