Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horse fainting after exercise - how a pacemaker helped
By van Loon, G et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2002·Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Implantation of a dual-chamber, rate-adaptive pacemaker in a horse with suspected sick sinus syndrome.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A five-year-old gelding experienced fainting spells after exercising, which raised concerns about his heart health. Tests showed that he had long pauses in his heart rhythm, a sign of sinus node disease. To help him, veterinarians implanted a dual-chamber pacemaker that adjusts the heart rate as needed. This treatment successfully stopped the fainting episodes and allowed the horse to safely return to work without further issues.
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Abstract
A five-year-old gelding suffered syncope at the end of a period of exercise. A 24-hour electrocardiogram recording revealed intermittent pauses in the sinus rhythm of up to 10 seconds, indicating sinus node disease; the pauses occurred repeatedly, particularly after exercise. A dual-chamber, rate-adaptive pacemaker was successfully implanted, which prevented excessive postexercise bradycardia and syncope, and allowed the horse to return to work.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12448492/