United States Eventing Association

Join Grayson-Jockey Club on Thursday for Vet Chat

In this month's Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Vet Chat series Grayson sits down with Dr. Molly McCue and Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst from the University of Minnesota. They are working on the project, “Predicting Exercising Arrhythmias with Resting Electrocardiograms. This project is supported by the USEA's Equine Medical Research Fund.

The webinar will take place via Zoom on Thursday, February 10 at 3:00 p.m. ET.

About the Study

Irregular heart rhythms are an important cause of sudden death (SCD) in horses. Most horses that develop irregular rhythms cannot be detected using our standard diagnostic tools as electrocardiograms (ECGs) at rest appear visually normal and no structural abnormalities can be identified on cardiac ultrasound. Human athletes that develop irregular rhythms that are known to cause SCD can be identified at rest using computational ECG analysis, even when the ECGs appear normal on initial visual inspection. These individuals can then be regularly monitored during their athletic careers, allowing for retirement from high intensity exercise before the development of a potentially fatal rhythm. A simple to perform test to identify horses at increased risk of developing irregular rhythms that can cause SCD would allow for increased monitoring of these horses to reduce their risk of SCD.

Click here to join the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation on Thursday, February 10th at 3:00 p.m. EST, to learn how the important work Dr. McCue and Dr. Durward-Akhurst are doing to keep your sport horse safe!