Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
PLoS One. 2019 Aug 14;14(8):e0221154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221154. eCollection 2019.
Equine cardiovascular structures and function are routinely assessed by transthoracic echocardiography. Recently, investigators have described the echocardiographic visualization of equine pulmonary vein ostia. In companion animals, the right pulmonary vein (RPV) to right pulmonary artery (RPA) ratio has been used as an index to estimate the severity of cardiac diseases resulting in left ventricular volume overload. We sought to assess the feasibility of measuring RPV and RPA dimensions, and sought to provide various previously examined RPV and RPA variables in clinically healthy horses that could be used to assess cardiopulmonary disease status. Echocardiographic examination was prospectively performed in 70 healthy horses. The RPV and RPA were visualized using a modified right parasternal long-axis view and maximum and minimum diameters of both vessels were measured from 2D guided M-mode traces. The aortic diameter (Ao) was measured from the right parasternal short-axis view in early diastole. These measurements were then used to produce various ratio indices. RPV and RPA were imaged in all 70 horses. Median of the minimum and maximum RPV/RPA was 0.51 and 0.60, respectively. Median fractional dimensional change of vessels was 33% for RPV and 22% for RPA. The medians of the minimum and maximum RPV/Ao and RPA/Ao were 0.18, 0.28, 0.35 and 0.46, respectively. No relationships between either bodyweight or heart rate and any of the vein or artery variables were identified (maximum r2 = 0.04). Inter- and intra-observer measurement variability was very good for all RPV and RPA measurements. Measuring of RPV and RPA diameters using M-mode transthoracic echocardiography is feasible in healthy horses. Further studies of these variables in horses with cardiac diseases are needed to determine the clinical applicability and utility.
马的心血管结构和功能通常通过经胸超声心动图进行评估。最近，研究人员描述了马肺静脉口的超声心动图可视化。在伴侣动物中，右肺静脉（RPV）与右肺动脉（RPA）的比值已被用作评估导致左心室容量超负荷的心脏疾病严重程度的指标。我们试图评估测量 RPV 和 RPA 尺寸的可行性，并提供临床上健康马匹中经过各种检查的 RPV 和 RPA 变量，这些变量可用于评估心肺疾病状况。前瞻性地对 70 匹健康马进行了超声心动图检查。使用改良的右胸骨旁长轴视图可视化 RPV 和 RPA，并从 2D 引导的 M 模式迹线上测量这两个血管的最大和最小直径。在舒张早期从右胸骨旁短轴视图测量主动脉直径（Ao）。然后使用这些测量值生成各种比值指数。在所有 70 匹马中都可以对 RPV 和 RPA 进行成像。最小和最大 RPV/RPA 的中位数分别为 0.51 和 0.60。血管的分数尺寸变化中位数为 RPV 为 33%，RPA 为 22%。最小和最大 RPV/Ao 和 RPA/Ao 的中位数分别为 0.18、0.28、0.35 和 0.46。体重或心率与任何静脉或动脉变量之间均未发现关系（最大 r2 = 0.04）。所有 RPV 和 RPA 测量的观察者内和观察者间测量变异性均非常好。使用 M 模式经胸超声心动图测量 RPV 和 RPA 直径在健康马匹中是可行的。需要进一步研究这些变量在患有心脏病的马匹中的临床适用性和实用性。
