The Equine Veterinary Journal has published a collection of 20 papers in which researchers shed light on advancements in the cardiac physiology, diagnostic techniques and management of various conditions, including atrial fibrillation (AF).

The collection, which is free to read until 7th January 2026, explores:

  • Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common cause of poor performance in the equine athlete. 
  • The high prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias in exercising horses, with a need for further validated, equine-specific electrophysiological tools.
  • The association of peak heart rate with the presence of arrhythmias.
  • Association between cardiac arrhythmias and other conditions, specifically the relationship between upper respiratory obstructions and ectopic/re-entrant rhythms that can occur during any exercise phase.
  • The relationship between atrial premature depolarisations and atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR) to assess AF recurrence risk in horses, supporting the ability to predict the likelihood of AF recurrence before initiating treatment.
  • Structural cardiac differences, including the presence of accessory leaflets in the atrioventricular valves in 39/40 valves studied provide further information to aid diagnostic interpretation. 
  • Advancing techniques in electro-anatomical mapping focusing on the pulmonary veins, where the presence of muscle sleeves of myocardial tissue in pulmonary vein ostia, with the presence of adrenergic and non-adrenergic nerve fibres within the muscle sleeves, suggests this tissue has the potential to trigger arrhythmias.  

Laura Nath said: “This collection highlights important and exciting work and improves our understanding of arrhythmogenic mechanisms, diagnosis of arrhythmias and recognition of cardiac pathology in both clinical and research settings.”

https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1001/(ISSN)2042-3306.current-progress-in-equine-cardiology