Despite major advances and availability of echocardiography and other diagnostic techniques in equine cardiology, a comprehensive history and clinical examination still form the essential basis of any cardiac evaluation.
Therefore, on ambulatory clinics, a stethoscope is the only tool that is fundamentally necessary to perform a cardiological exam, in conjunction with a thorough history taking.
Presenting signs that may prompt specific evaluation for cardiac disease include:
- Detection of a murmur and/or arrhythmia during routine examination
- Altered demeanour
- Poor performance and/or exercise intolerance
- Dyspnoea and/or cough
- Weakness and/or collapse
- Colic and/or chronic weight loss with generalised malaise
- Distended peripheral veins with ventral oedema
- Epistaxis (bleeding from the nose)
- Persistent tachycardia of unexplained origin (defined as a clinical state in which the heart rate is over 100 bpm)
- Fever of unknown origin
đź’ˇ Always attempt to auscultate the heart in a quiet, calm place, away from background noise or exciting factors that could alter the horses heart rate. To have a better field of auscultation, ask the horse to move the leg forward as you place the stethoscope in its axilla. Also consider the ability to exercise the animal and repeat the auscultation immediately after, when certain pathologic sounds may become more obvious and so as to assess the recovery rate of the animal.