Abstract
Background: There is limited information on the incidence of clinical signs, concurrent illness and treatment options for atrial fibrillation (AF) in New World Camelids (NWC). Objective: Describe clinical signs and outcome of AF in NWC. Animals: Eight New World Camelids admitted with AF. Methods: A retrospective observational study of camelids diagnosed with AF based on characteristic findings on electrocardiogram (ECG). Results: All animals had an irregularly irregular heart rhythm detected on physical examination and 4 cases had obtunded mentation on admission. Three camelids were diagnosed with AF secondary to oleander intoxication, 3 animals had underlying cardiovascular disease, 1 was diagnosed with lone AF and 1 had AF diagnosed on examination for a urethral obstruction. Five of eight animals survived to discharge and nonsurvivors consisted of animals which died or were euthanized as a result of cardiovascular disease (2/8) or extra-cardiac disease unrelated to the AF (1/8). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Atrial fibrillation occurs in NWC in association with cardiovascular disease, extra-cardiac disease or as lone AF. Amiodarone and transthoracic cardioversion were attempted in one llama with lone AF, but were unsuccessful. Atrial fibrillation was recorded in 0.1% of admissions.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 335-338 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2016 |
Keywords
- Alpaca
- Arrhythmia
- Cardiac
- Llama
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Veterinary