Holter monitoring (24-h electrocardiography) of Holstein calves
Pessoa, Rebecca BastosBatista, Camila FreitasSantos, Kamila ReisBellinazzi, Jéssyca BeraldiDella Libera, Alice Maria Melville PaivaLarsson, Maria Helena Matiko Akao
Background: Twenty-four h electrocardiographic monitoring is a noninvasive method of assessing cardiac rhythm. Holter monitoring in farm animals can help assessing heart rate variability and its relationship with stress and production. Several authors have reviewed the normal cardiac rhythm of bovines, but there is little information on heart rhythm in calves. The goal of this research is to elucidate which cardiac rhythms may be considered physiological in Holstein calves, from 3 to 6 months old. Materials, Methods & Results: Twenty-four h ambulatory electrocardiography (Holter monitoring) was performed in 10 male Holstein calves, with ages ranging from 3 to 6 months old. The animals came from private farms in São Paulo state and were housed in a semi-open stall during the study. The animals had their hair clipped from the third to the fifth intercostal spaces on both sides of the chest, from the sternal region to the glenohumeral joint, and seven electrodes were positioned in a diagonal configuration. Decoding of the recordings was performed using specialized software and in order to minimize digital mistakes, all of the beats marked as ectopic by the software were manually revised by the authors. Mean heart rate was 83.2 ± 11.06 beats per min (bpm), maximum heart rate was 147.1 ± 11.05 bpm, and minimum heart rate was 53.7 ± 7.45 bpm. In 90% of the calves, normal sinus [...](AU)
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