atrial fibrillation

C

ChescaG

Member
Joined
5 January 2015
Messages
17
Visit site
Hi,
I have had my new horse for 2 months, and when a vet (not our usual) came to give him his flu jab, she noticed something wasn't great with his heart. We got our usual vet out, and she took him for some tests today as she had a specialist cardio person out anyway. He did some tests and it turned out to be atrial fibrillation... He couldn't find any underlying problems and so hopefully it will only be a case of 2 weeks on steroids and not riding, but we don't know.

Please can someone fully explain to me what it actually is, and what the recovery rate/chance is; and if he does recover, whether we can get back to doing BSJA and BE like we were before...?

Thanks in advance!! x
 
Sorry can't answer your question, but just wanted you to know your horse is lovely. (I was the 'other person' dealing with the other horses at the yard when you arrived). I hope you get the answers you are after, I'm sure A the vet will be happy to answer any queries you have. All the best.
 
the understanding of the equine heart is still very basic, recovery just depends on the cause and how the horse responds to the treatment given, it can be viral and self righting, viral and restarting (literally to re-set the patterns of the heart rate and beat) may solve it, there may be an underlying problem and be nothing that can be done. I really wish you all the best for a good outcome-we lost my daughters horse last year due to heart failure.
 
Denman carried on racing and is now team chasing. Though I think they stopped his heart and reset it ... scary stuff anywho! But ues they can come back and compete to the highest level but each horse is individual. Your doing the best thing by getting it all checked out.
 
I have to agree with Twiggy2 our knowledge of the Equine heart is very basic . The Eqiune heart is quite amazing . It has features found in no other mammal. Its range in heart beat is the greatest. It is so powerful that ,at rest , the nerve controlling the heart ,can make the heart miss beats ,by swamping it with such a powerful signal.This helps the heart by giving it a rest.However it seems that occasional things can get out of sync and cause Atrial Fibrillation. Usually AF is not fatal but just slows them down . My suspicion is that some horses regularly get into this "out of sync " mode and merely under perform .But others ,with a clean bill of health get hit by it once while competing ,and its "game over".Lucinda Green lost her Badminton winner in the parade ring after winning. There is no proof that this was AF but it was ,by process of elimination,the most likely suspect. I too have lost a horse from suspected acute AF. He was out hunting, absolutely fine one moment,stepped through a ditch hidden by grass ,and by effort and strength on his part.he didnt fall. But a few moments later things started to go badly wrong and within 15 minutes he died. The PM showed absolutely nothing ,and he had had a full veterinary work up 3 weeks earlier(pre season checkup) Now dont take this all as doom and gloom,because your horse is not in the same category as those that simply drop dead. Your horse has ,I suspect ,more of a chronic than an acute problem.Also ,as mentioned ,the heart is pretty amazing and powerful . You need to take expert advice but this is by no means the end for your horse. There is a treatment but it is not great . At least you have had an advanced warning to be careful . Good luck. I hope my post hasnt upset you ,but I suspect you want to hear the truth. PS my knowledge of how to insert paragraphs with my lame computer is also pretty basic
 
This is not an uncommon condition. As well as Denman the top racehorse, Sprinter Sacre, had the same thing last year - and he is now back racing. Vets use multiple doses of quinine by tube or electrical treatment, which is rather specialist. FWIW Celia Marr in Newmarket treated Sprinter Sacre
 
Hughie said:
This is not an uncommon condition. As well as Denman the top racehorse, Sprinter Sacre, had the same thing last year - and he is now back racing. Vets use multiple doses of quinine by tube or electrical treatment, which is rather specialist. FWIW Celia Marr in Newmarket treated Sprinter Sacre
Click to expand...

the condition appears to be unknown at this stage,it is my understanding that the symptoms are known but the cause is not. Celia treated my daughters mare and was so nice around her it really makes it all less stressful when people treat the horses well
 
Hughie said:
This is not an uncommon condition. As well as Denman the top racehorse, Sprinter Sacre, had the same thing last year - and he is now back racing. Vets use multiple doses of quinine by tube or electrical treatment, which is rather specialist. FWIW Celia Marr in Newmarket treated Sprinter Sacre
Click to expand...

Not sure if you had a typo, but the drug used in Quinidine (sulphate) - quinine is the stuff for cramps. Although it's used as part of the treatment for AF and heart dysrythmia, a horse can only have a limited number of doses in their life time. It's a very powerful substance, and isn't always successful, hence having to give multiple doses.

OP, our older boy has AF. The vets picked it up at the end of 2013 when he had colic. He is 25, so naturally his work load has slowed down, and he is on semi retirement. He no longer competes, but does go out hacking, the odd schooling session to keep him bending and he loves going on fun rides. Our vets check him over whenever they visit and there is no cause for concern at the moment. We were told that he may show signs of being affected by it by just naturally slowing himself down, which I've only ever felt him do once. The rest of the time he is a raving - but polite - loon.

Heed your vet's advice and take it one step at a time. Each case is different, so there is no conclusive answer.

Best of luck, keep us updated.
 
I have two horse that have had AF. Both are Advanced Endurance Horses and it was discovered while competing.

You say you have had bloods taken. Were they tested for Electrolytes , Sodium (Common Salt), Magnesium and Selenium. One of mine was low in both Sodium and Magnesium. Although both minerals were within the normal limits (The therapeutic range) they were at the bottom of the range. We just add Salt and some Magnesium and he was soon back to normal. The other horse again was in a competition and at the half way vetting it was detected. Both horses just slowed down but once treated were back to normal. The mare is still competing at the age of 25 and last year won both her Endurance races.

There are some top level horses that have had it and are back to normal.
 
My new horse was diagnosed with AF 3 days after she arrived from the dealer I bought her from! Wasn't there at the vetting a few days earlier. She was very quickly sent for an ECG to confirm it and within 4 weeks was sent to Dick Vets in Edinburgh where she had a successful electrical cardioversion. I didn't have insurance coverage and the risks of the electrical cardioversion seemed much less to me compared with Quinidine which can be horrendous. Most cases dont revert back on their own, and if they do, they usually do it within a few days. I would think it would be unlikely that your horse would convert back without intervention tbh. Did the bloods show abnormalities?

Without converting to normal sinus rhythm (so if your horse stayed in AF) then cardiac performance will be pretty seriously diminished and I was advised by the cardiologist who is top of his game that my horse would probably have to be retired as her heart rate was over 220 bpm at trot/canter. I certainly wouldn't want to take a horse in AF round a XC course! Upon exercise ECG she had shown some R on T waves (I think that's what they are called!!) which is linked to sudden death (freaked me out!!). However because she converted successfully her heart is essentially normal again and I could ride her a week after the procedure. Parzival had the exact same problem and procedure as my horse in 2013 and was at WEG last year.

The longer the horse is in AF, the less the conversion rate is. My horse had no underlying heart disease and had a normal sized heart so she has "lone fibrillation" and there was absolutely no reason for it to happen to her, it just did. To determine this she had ultrasounds, exercise ECG's, the lot. To lead a normal, athletic life, they need to be converted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top