Abstract
Objective—To determine whether there is evidence of myocardial injury in horses with acute abdominal disease.
Design—Prospective case series.
Animals—18 healthy horses and 69 horses with acute abdominal disease.
Procedures—18 healthy horses had been admitted to the hospital for investigation and were assigned to group 1. Horses examined for acute abdominal disease were assigned to 3 groups: strangulating obstruction, nonstrangulating obstruction, or inflammatory disease (groups 2, 3, and 4, respectively). Heart rate, Hct, and blood lactate and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations were measured at initial examination. Myocardial function was assessed by echocardiographic measurement of fractional shortening and left ventricular ejection time (LVET). Heart rhythm was evaluated via ECG.
Results—The proportion of horses with high (> 0.03 ng/mL) cTnI concentration was significantly greater among horses with strangulating (9/25 [36%]) or inflammatory (9/19 [47%]) lesions, compared with healthy horses (0/18). The proportion of horses with high cTnI concentration was significantly greater among nonsurvivors (12/24 [50%]) than among survivors (10/45 [22%]). Serum cTnI concentration was positively correlated with Hct, heart rate, and blood lactate concentration and negatively correlated with LVET.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Evidence of myocardial injury was observed in horses with acute abdominal disease, and this injury was associated with severity of illness. Recognition of myocardial injury could improve treatment of acute abdominal disease in horses.
