Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Using cardiac event monitors to diagnose fainting and weakness
By Bright, J M & Cali, J V·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2000·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical usefulness of cardiac event recording in dogs and cats examined because of syncope, episodic collapse, or intermittent weakness: 60 cases (1997-1999).
Plain-English summary
A group of 58 dogs and 2 cats were evaluated for unexplained fainting, collapsing episodes, or weakness. The veterinarians used a method called cardiac event recording to monitor their heart rhythms, which proved to be very effective. In 85% of the cases, the recordings provided useful information, helping to identify specific heart rhythm issues in some pets. This method was particularly helpful for pets with existing heart problems, but it also ruled out heart issues in many others. Overall, this approach can be a valuable tool for diagnosing heart-related causes of these concerning symptoms.
People also search for: dog fainting episodes · cat weakness causes · heart problems in dogs · cardiac event recording for pets · dog collapse treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical usefulness of cardiac event recording in evaluating dogs and cats with unexplained syncope, episodic collapse, or intermittent weakness. DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: 58 dogs and 2 cats. PROCEDURE: Medical records and electrocardiographic rhythm strips obtained by cardiac event recordings were reviewed. Cardiac rhythm data from the event recordings were classified as diagnostic or nondiagnostic. Diagnostic yield was calculated by dividing the number of animals for which cardiac event recording was diagnostic by the total number of animals undergoing cardiac event recording. RESULTS: For 51 animals, cardiac event recording was classified as diagnostic; therefore, overall diagnostic yield was 85%. Diagnostic yield was lower for animals without underlying structural heart disease (75.5%) than for animals with structural heart disease (95.6%). A specific arrhythmia was identified as the cause of clinical signs in 18 of the 51 (35%) animals for which cardiac event recording was diagnostic. Cardiac arrhythmia was definitively excluded as the cause of clinical signs in the remaining 33 (65%) animals in which cardiac event recording was diagnostic. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicate that cardiac event recording had a high diagnostic yield in dogs and cats examined because of unexplained syncope, episodic collapse, or transient weakness and ataxia, regardless of whether animals did or did not have an underlying structural heart disease. Diagnostic yield of cardiac event recording was higher than that reported previously for Holter monitoring.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10754673/