Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spinal cord stimulation lowers dangerous heart rhythms in dogs
By Issa, Ziad F et al.·Published in Circulation·2005·Krannert Institute of Cardiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Thoracic spinal cord stimulation reduces the risk of ischemic ventricular arrhythmias in a postinfarction heart failure canine model.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 22 dogs with heart failure and a history of heart attack were tested to see if spinal cord stimulation (SCS) could help reduce dangerous heart rhythms during episodes of reduced blood flow to the heart. The dogs underwent two episodes of induced heart stress, with one group receiving SCS before the first episode and the other group not receiving it. Results showed that SCS significantly lowered the occurrence of serious heart rhythms from 59% to 23%. This suggests that SCS may be a helpful treatment for dogs at risk of heart problems after a heart attack.
People also search for: dog heart failure treatment · spinal cord stimulation for dogs · heart arrhythmia in dogs · dog heart attack recovery
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Thoracic spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a promising therapy in treating refractory angina. This study was designed to investigate SCS with regard to the risk of arrhythmias during myocardial ischemia and its cardiac electrophysiological effects. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 22 dogs with healed anterior myocardial infarction (MI) and superimposed heart failure (HF) induced by rapid ventricular pacing. SCS was applied at the dorsal T1-T2 segments of the spinal cord (at 50 Hz, 0.2 ms) for 15 minutes. Transient (2-minute) myocardial ischemia was induced on 2 separate occasions (no SCS and SCS) to provoke ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation; VT/VF). Ischemic episodes were separated by 90 minutes, and dogs were randomly assigned to receive SCS or no SCS before the first or second ischemic episode. SCS reduced the occurrence of VT/VF from 59% to 23% when SCS was applied during transient myocardial ischemia (odds ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.1626 to 0.5646; P=0.0009). SCS also decreased sinus rate by 7.5+/-14 bpm (P=0.048), increased the PR interval by 11.1+/-14.7 ms (P=0.009), and reduced systolic blood pressure by 9.8+/-13.6 mm Hg (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic SCS appears to protect against ischemic VT/VF in a canine model of healed MI and HF. SCS reduced sinus rate and systolic blood pressure, changes consistent with the previously known antisympathetic effect of SCS, which may have contributed to the antiarrhythmic benefits.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15956128/