Electrocardiographic patterns of Mangalarga Marchador horses before and after implementation of the marcha gait

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate the electrocardiographic parameters in Mangalarga Marchador horses submitted to marcha exercise. Twenty-four Mangalarga Marchador horses, thirteen females and eleven males, 6.4±2.7 years old with a mean weight of 428.3±24.7kg, were used. Electrocardiograms were recorded in two different moments: rest and immediately after exercise (40 minutes of aerobic exercise, marcha gait). The electrocardiographic variables analyzed were cardiac rhythm, heart rate (HR), duration of P wave, QRS complex, PR and QT intervals, amplitudes of P, R and T waves, and analysis of QT corrected (QTc) according to Bazett's formula (QT/√RR). Variables were analyzed for normality with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and paired t-test, considering P<0.05. Rhythm analysis revealed 91.7% of sinus rhythm and 8.3% of sinus arrhythmia in rest, with mean HR of 45.7±12.7 beats minute-1, and 100% of sinus tachycardia, with mean HR of 77.3±13.5 beats minute-1 after exercise (P<0.0001). In post-exercise, it was possible to observe decreases in P wave duration (P=0.0121), PR interval (P=0.0007) and QT interval (P<0.0001) and increase of QTc (P=0.0039) and R wave amplitude (P=0.0033). There were no significant differences for amplitude of P and T waves and QRS complex related to atrioventricular enlargement. Although QT interval decreased after exercise, there was an increase on QTc after exercise, indicating changes in ventricular repolarization. It was possible to conclude that the imposed exercise (marcha gait) led to electrocardiographic alterations without causing pathological arrhythmias.