It is generally acknowledged that atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common pathological arrhythmia in horses There is currently a debate to ascertain whether equine AF can occur per se or whether it is the consequence of cardiac pathologies. In the fist case, reversion to normal rhythm can be successfully achieved by medical cardioversion but, in the former, conversion to sinus rhythm is less successful and recurrence of AF is more common. A new generation of cardioverter-defibrillators is now available and may offer an alternative approach to pharmacological cardioversion in animals. However quinidine sulphate remains the only real therapeutic option for AF in horses despite the serious adverse effects may be associated with the treatment. The use of flecainide proved to be of limited value whereas amiodarone has shown encouraging results. The practitioner is often hesitant in using pharmacological cardioversion, as the therapeutic choice is limited and the risk related to the treatment is quite high. An equine experimental model of chronic AF has been proposed. By applying it to integrated pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic (PK/PD) or physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models it could represent the most practicable approach for targeting safe and effective drug dosage regimens to expand the therapeutic opportunities for treating AF successfully in the horse.

Atrial fibrillation in horse:difficult diagnosis for a therapeutic orphan

BELLOLI, Chiara;
2006-01-01

Abstract

It is generally acknowledged that atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common pathological arrhythmia in horses There is currently a debate to ascertain whether equine AF can occur per se or whether it is the consequence of cardiac pathologies. In the fist case, reversion to normal rhythm can be successfully achieved by medical cardioversion but, in the former, conversion to sinus rhythm is less successful and recurrence of AF is more common. A new generation of cardioverter-defibrillators is now available and may offer an alternative approach to pharmacological cardioversion in animals. However quinidine sulphate remains the only real therapeutic option for AF in horses despite the serious adverse effects may be associated with the treatment. The use of flecainide proved to be of limited value whereas amiodarone has shown encouraging results. The practitioner is often hesitant in using pharmacological cardioversion, as the therapeutic choice is limited and the risk related to the treatment is quite high. An equine experimental model of chronic AF has been proposed. By applying it to integrated pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic (PK/PD) or physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models it could represent the most practicable approach for targeting safe and effective drug dosage regimens to expand the therapeutic opportunities for treating AF successfully in the horse.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/18738
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 2
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 0
social impact