Atrial Fibrillation: WWYD? Am very torn.

HeresHoping

HeresHoping

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Hi,

The horse I was having vetted yesterday failed in 5 minutes flat due to what the vet described as 'atrial fibrillation'. To say we (the owner and I) were gutted, shocked, and quite disbelieving is a slight understatement. She was an absolutely fantastic horse. ID x TB. About 16.3 hh and only just turned 6. She hasn't done much except some dressage and a few showjumping shows here and there. She has done some XC schooling, a few clinics and a few fun rides. She is purportedly fit from hours of hacking over the SW hills - I do believe she is.

Obviously, without a doppler/ECG it won't be confirmed that it is AF or some other arrhythmia. So that's one factor to consider. The ECG is being performed this afternoon.

I have been reading up on AF. In a nutshell, it can come on suddenly for a number of reasons - virus, stress, strenuous unexpected exercise, etc. Or, there could be an underlying heart condition.

I note though, from papers by Lesley Young among others, that IF (and it's a big if) there is no underlying condition, the AF is less than 4 months old, and the AF is reversed fairly promptly through the application of an oral dose of quinidine glucate or sulphate, i.e. within three doses, then the reversal is 99.9% likely to be permanent. There is a prime example of vets iterating this when a very public statement about Denman was made. I should state here that the horse had her jabs at the beginning of January, and the vet administering them did listen to her heart at that point. No notification of abnormality was made. Ergo, this AF is probably much more recent.

Obviously, if it is due to a heart condition, or it is not immediately successful, then the AF can be reversed but there's no guarantee it would stay this way.

Let's just say the ECG showed a typical AF without underlying issues. And let's just say the reversal was successful. Would you take the horse?

I want to event. I'm never going to be riding round Burghley, but certainly wouldn't mind tackling a BN in a couple of years or so. I will speak with the vet who is going to do the ECG this afternoon, but I thought I'd get some opinions from those in the know.:) Having written it down I feel I shouldn't, but then again...
 
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not sure I would want to event it, but the vet may say differently, I know somebody who loan one with some heart issue and event it and they are both vets.
 
If you're serious about the horse I would have someone really good to doppler echocardiogram her to look for underlying pathology.
 
I have a horse who failed vetting due to this he was given to me .
His ECG left him labelled a death trap and we were to be prepared to find him dead in the field.it is thought a virus was the cause
He was writing off as a LOU case four months after it was discovered when no improvement had occurred the the two specialists who assessed him for the insurance company said although recovery was possible it was unlikely after the passage of time.
He was given to me at this stage.
We turned him out and in time we started walking from another horse and lunging him about four months later we felt he had changed in some sutle way and repeated the ECG he had recovered , he's my OH'S hunter now and has just finished his second full season with us he's an ace hunter .
I took him on because I loved him he's a very likeable character and I wanted him to have a chance .
I would not have bought him and I would not have taken him on unless I had others which we did.
I am told by the vets having recovered he's at no more risk of heart issues than any other horse but even though this has worked out well for me I would move on and leave the owner to sort this out.
 
My TB was pulled up in his last race over hurdles due to AF and immediately retired(aged 7). He went back to his owners and was checked by vets, who told the owner he should be fine to hunt and event but racing was just too much strain. I have owned him for the past 2 yrs-he is now 12- and his heart is perfectly normal. But from what I understand, the rhythm could become irregular again, it may not. I have hunted him and would like to do a little eventing.

I will just be careful and never push him, just let him do as much as he can manage.
 
I have had a horse with this, when I got him as a 7yr old, he was vetted and there was no sign of it! When he was about 14 and he was having a routine vet check a slight murmur was detected, I was told not much to worry about, but not to push him to his limits.
When he was 17 I noticed he would sometimes put in a little skip step when trotting, he also developed some swelling on his stomach just behind the girth, had the vet out who said his heartbeat was very irregular, so he did an ECG which showed atrial fibrillation.
I was advised to pts, but I wanted to try medication, which helped for a while and then he suddenly got a lot worse and developed secondary liver failure and I lost him at 18, found him dead in his field, his heart had just stopped and he had dropped where he stood , still had grass in his mouth!
It really upset me to find him dead, my vet said he would not of suffered or known anything about it, but I always regret not putting to sleep when I was advised too!
 
I've had a horse 'faint' out from under me due to a heart condition (can't remember the exact name but she also had spells of ventricular fibrilation). This was unexpected and out the blue. How I wasn't hurt I don't know and I will never ride a horse with a known heart condition ever again. I was only walking but had it happened at canter or gallop I could have died. So in your shoes, I would walk away.
 
Here are two positive cases for you. Both endurance horses.

1) A 12 year old Arab gelding-we were competing in an Endurance race and we had done about 20 miles of a 60 mile ride. He suddenly stopped and then moved on. We arrived at the first vet gate and I had problem getting his heart rate down in the time. When we went to the vets It was found that he was in AF. The vet told us to take it easy, when we arrived at the second vet gate his rate was better. We continued and finished the race. The horse came second. We had stopped the Magic we had been giving him. The event vet referred the horse to Liphook to see if they could find anything. ECG and such showed nothing. Blood and urine were taken and the only thing it showed was that he was short of Magnesium and Sodium. We started him back on the Magic and added some salt.

To this day he has not had a problem and continued to do Endurance.

2) A 22 year old Arab mare we took to the Golden Horse Shoe . After the first day we could not get her heart rate down and it was found that she was also in AF. This again was found to be due to an Electrolyte imbalance. Once this was sorted she was fine, In fact she went on to win an Endurance Race and then the Veteran Arab Marathon.

I would have bloods done to check the Electrolytes. This year the ground has been short of Magnesium.
 
I would walk away and leave this to the owner to sort out. It's going to cost a fair bit to have an echo done with a specialist (I see you're in East Anglia, so Lesley Young herself would be a good port of call) and it's not up to you to do this. It's a real shame, but if you went ahead with the purchase heart problems may well not be covered by insurance without further vet letters and exams - all expensive. There's another one out there just as good without any problems. It is, afterall, why you paid for a vetting in the first place isn't it?
 
Thank you for your opinions, folks, I really appreciate it. I think I'll be walking away. Am so sad and sorry for the owner. There are too many ifs, and not enough known. The ECG confirmed AF as opposed to other arrhythmias. The owner said she had some big decisions to make so I fear it may be a bit more serious than first thought.

Interesting about the Mg - she's on A&P's Calm and Condition which has quite significant amounts of magnesium. I did read about the electrolytes issue and did think about that.
 
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