First catheter‐based high‐density endocardial 3D electroanatomical mapping of the right atrium in standing horses

Abstract

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Right atrial‐related structures in horses of interest during electrophysiological studies

“…This is a useful finding as this could allow the clinician to assess the difficulty of the procedure in terms of catheter manipulation and positioning. Minimally invasive intracardiac procedures such as electrophysiological studies, mapping and ablation procedures have only recently been introduced in equine cardiology 22–27 . A comprehensive knowledge on the anatomy of electrophysiologically important landmarks is essential for performing these procedures safely and efficiently.…”

“…The median diameter of the coronary sinus ostium was 29 (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) mm. The middle cardiac vein drained directly into the right atrium in 11 out of 21 hearts while it drained into the coronary sinus in 10 hearts (Figure 5).…”

Irregular hearts and performance horses

“…In some cases, treatments that might be as close as we are going to get to resolving troublesome arrhythmias could be on the horizon. The papers by Hesselkilde et al 30 and Van Steenkiste et al, 31 describe electro‐anatomical mapping of the heart in the horse. Hesselkilde et al concentrated on the right atrium, while Van Steenkiste et al attempted electro‐anatomic mapping of the entire heart.…”

“…Most of the interventions that might be possible to treat clinically significant rhythm disturbances in the horse are likely to require direct and accurate access to the inside of one or more chambers. This may be for biopsy, electrical treatments such as TVEC, or very focused treatments such as radio frequency ablation of discrete areas of tissue identified as giving rise to spontaneous electrical activity 30,31 . Even identifying such areas will first require that electro‐anatomic mapping be performed.…”

“…Thus, we need to iron out all the wrinkles in the technique’s application, while at the same time critically examining the applicability of this presently very expensive procedure. Perhaps the greatest benefit we can derive is to better understand arrhythmogenesis in the horse by the procedure’s research application 30 …”