Cicogna Maria, Rishniw Mark, Gobbi Angelica, Calgaro Valentina, Porciello Francesco, Caivano Domenico
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, Perugia 06126, Italy.
Veterinary Information Network, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Res Vet Sci. 2025 Mar;185:105564. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2025.105564. Epub 2025 Jan 31.
Diagnostic tests commonly used for assessing of cardiac diseases in clinical practice are not always available in small ruminants, therefore cardiac auscultation is a cornerstone in this species. The present study assesses the reliability of a new smartphone-based digital stethoscope featuring simultaneous phonocardiography and one‑lead electrocardiogram to evaluate heart sounds and electrocardiographic (ECG) findings in healthy sheep. Additionally, we compared the effect of breed (Bergamasca vs Comisana breed) on the ECG tracings obtained by the digital stethoscope. A total of 44 sheep (23 Bergamasca and 21 Comisana sheep) were recruited. No sheep ausculted abnormally with either the conventional or digital stethoscope. All audio recordings were considered interpretable in 40 sheep with substantial agreement (k = 0.755) between two operators. Conventional and digital ECG tracings showed sinus rhythm in all sheep and the limit of agreement analysis showed similar values between the two devices, but some ECG variables were not interchangeable. A perfect-to-good agreement was observed for heart rate, P wave duration/amplitude, PQ interval, QRS duration and QT interval; substantial difference for the S wave amplitude and moderate agreement (k = 0.569) for the T wave morphology between the two devices were observed. A fair agreement was found for the artifact presence (k = 0.395). Comparison of ECG variables between "Bergamasca" and "Comisana" breed showed differences (p < 0.05) for heart rate, QRS duration, QT duration and T polarity. In conclusion, the digital stethoscope Eko DUO is a practical and easy-to-use tool for assessing heart sounds and ECG signals in sheep in the field.
临床实践中常用于评估心脏疾病的诊断测试在小型反刍动物中并不总是可用，因此心脏听诊是该物种的基石。本研究评估了一种新型基于智能手机的数字听诊器的可靠性，该听诊器具有同步心音图和单导联心电图功能，用于评估健康绵羊的心音和心电图（ECG）结果。此外，我们比较了品种（贝加马斯卡品种与科米萨纳品种）对数字听诊器获得的心电图描记的影响。总共招募了44只绵羊（23只贝加马斯卡绵羊和21只科米萨纳绵羊）。无论是使用传统听诊器还是数字听诊器，均未发现绵羊听诊异常。40只绵羊的所有音频记录均被认为可解释，两名操作人员之间具有高度一致性（k = 0.755）。传统心电图和数字心电图描记显示所有绵羊均为窦性心律，一致性界限分析显示两种设备之间的值相似，但一些心电图变量不可互换。心率、P波持续时间/幅度、PQ间期、QRS持续时间和QT间期观察到完全到良好的一致性；两种设备之间S波幅度存在显著差异，T波形态观察到中度一致性（k = 0.569）。在伪迹存在方面发现了一般的一致性（k = 0.395）。“贝加马斯卡”和“科米萨纳”品种之间的心电图变量比较显示，心率、QRS持续时间、QT持续时间和T极性存在差异（p < 0.05）。总之，数字听诊器Eko DUO是一种实用且易于使用的工具，可用于在野外评估绵羊的心音和心电图信号。
