Base-apex electrocardiographic examination in healthy cows of Chianina breed.

Background: The electrocardiography is a useful diagnostic tool for the characterization of the cardiac rhythm in veterinary medicine. In cattle, standard electrocardiographic (ECG) exam is commonly performed using the base-apex lead system and reference values for ECG parameters have been reported for different breeds of cows. However, no ECG studies have been conducted in Chianina breed. Aim: To determine the feasibility and normal values for standard base-apex electrocardiography in clinically healthy Chianina cows. Methods: A standard base-apex ECG examination was acquired in 45 Chianina cows. All the cows were considered healthy based on history and physical examination. The following ECG parameters were evaluated: heart rate (HR); morphology of P wave, QRS complex, and T wave; amplitude and duration of P wave, QRS complex, and T wave; duration of PR and QT intervals. Correlations between ECG parameters and clinical variables were analyzed. Results: Morphology of the ECG waves/complexes and values for all ECG parameters recorded in the 45 clinically healthy Chianina cows were reported. Correlations between HR and body weight (BW), QT interval and BW, QT interval and HR, P wave amplitude and HR, PR interval and HR, R wave amplitude and age were observed. Statistical difference between HR in pregnant and non-pregnant cows was also found. Conclusion: Base-apex electrocardiogram is suitable for monitoring heart rhythm in clinically healthy Chianina cows and reference values for main ECG parameters have been reported for this breed. This study can be a useful contribution to the literature, updating current knowledge on the electrocardiography in cattle.

Mural Endocarditis and Embolic Pneumonia Due to Trueperella pyogenes in an Adult Cow with Ventricular Septal Defect.

Bacterial endocarditis represents one of the most frequently acquired cardiac diseases in adult cattle. Congenital heart diseases as a ventricular septal defect can facilitate bacterial endocarditis as a consequence of turbulent blood flow through the defect, causing damage to the endocardium. We describe a case of mural endocarditis associated with a ventricular septal defect in an eight-year-old female Holstein Friesian cow. The cow's history revealed that she had presented dysorexia and a sudden decrease of milk production in the last 10 days prior to the examination. On clinical examination, jugular pulses, tachycardia with irregular heart rate and tachypnea with harsh bronchovesicular sounds were evident. Electrocardiographic examination allowed the diagnosis of an atrial fibrillation with high ventricular response rate. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a large vegetation originating from the endocardium between the tricuspid and pulmonic valves in the right ventricle outflow. On post-mortem examination, a small muscular septal defect under the right coronary cusp of the aortic valve and a mural vegetative endocarditis were found. An abscess in the chondro-costal junction of the third right rib and metastatic pneumonia were also observed. This case report describes a rare consequence of a small ventricular septal defect that had not been previously diagnosed in an adult cow.

Double-Outlet Right Ventricle in a Chianina Calf.

Congenital heart defects have been occasionally reported in cattle and ventricular septal defect represents the most frequently encountered anomaly. The double-outlet right ventricle is a rare congenital ventriculoarterial malformation reported only in certain cattle breeds. We describe this rare and complex congenital cardiac malformation observed in a 10-day-old male Chianina calf. Clinical examination showed tachycardia, tachypnea, jugular pulses, cyanotic mucous membranes and a right apical systolic murmur. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed severe dilation of the right-sided cardiac chambers with a markedly hypoplastic left ventricle. Both aorta and pulmonary artery leaving the right ventricle in parallel alignment with the tricuspid valve were suggestive of a dual-outlet right ventricle. Interventricular and interatrial septal defects were also visualized. Post-mortem examination confirmed the echocardiographic findings. To the authors' knowledge, a similar complex congenital cardiac malformation has not been reported in calves of the Chianina breed to date.