Sleeper Meg M, Durando Mary M, Holbrook Todd C, Payton Mark E, Birks Eric K
Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Am J Vet Res. 2014 Oct;75(10):893-8. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.75.10.893.
To determine whether echocardiographic variables differed between successful (elite) and less successful (nonelite) Arabian endurance horses.
34 Arabian horses that competed in endurance racing.
Horses were assigned to either an elite or nonelite group on the basis of results of a previous competition, and a standardized echocardiographic examination was performed on each horse within 1 to 4 weeks after that competition. Multivariable logistic regression with backward stepwise elimination was used to create a prediction model for the determination of horse status (elite or nonelite) as a function of the measured echocardiographic variables.
The elite and nonelite groups consisted of 23 and 11 horses, respectively. One horse in the nonelite group had a frequent ventricular dysrhythmia that could have negatively affected its performance and rider's safety, whereas none of the horses in the elite group had remarkable cardiac abnormalities. The left ventricular internal diameter during systole and diastole and left ventricular mass and stroke volume were significantly greater for horses in the elite group, compared with those for horses in the nonelite group. The final logistic regression model correctly predicted the horse status for all of the horses in the elite group and 8 of 11 horses in the nonelite group.
Results indicated that heart size was significantly associated with performance for Arabian endurance horses in a manner similar to findings for Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses in active competition.
确定成功（精英级）和不太成功（非精英级）的阿拉伯耐力赛马在超声心动图变量上是否存在差异。
34匹参加耐力赛的阿拉伯马。
根据之前比赛的结果将马分为精英组或非精英组，并在该比赛后的1至4周内对每匹马进行标准化超声心动图检查。采用向后逐步消除的多变量逻辑回归来创建一个预测模型，以根据测量的超声心动图变量确定马的状态（精英级或非精英级）。
精英组和非精英组分别由23匹马和11匹马组成。非精英组中有一匹马频繁出现室性心律失常，这可能对其表现和骑手安全产生负面影响，而精英组中没有一匹马有明显的心脏异常。与非精英组的马相比，精英组的马在收缩期和舒张期的左心室内径、左心室质量和每搏输出量显著更大。最终的逻辑回归模型正确预测了精英组所有马的状态以及非精英组11匹马中的8匹马的状态。
结果表明，心脏大小与阿拉伯耐力赛马的表现显著相关，其方式与活跃比赛中的纯种马和标准赛马的研究结果相似。
