title: Electrocardiographic reference values in whippets.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the electrocardiographic characteristics of whippets and to compare the results with published reference values for a general dog population. Electrocardiographic parameters from 105 healthy whippets were used to establish reference values for the breed. The most important differences compared to published reference values were the higher median R-wave amplitudes in leads II, CV(6)LL and CV(6)LU. For some parameters (P-wave amplitude, ST-segment deflection and T-wave amplitude in lead II; R-wave amplitude in CV(5)RL), a marked percentage of the whippet values were above the published maximum reference data. The results confirmed that whippets have electrocardiographic characteristics similar to those reported in athletic heart syndrome in humans. Some of these characteristics could be erroneously taken as evidence of cardiac disease and clinicians should be aware of these factors to prevent unnecessary investigations in healthy dogs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Clinical Biology of Small Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. valerie.bavegems@UGent.be
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bavegems
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duchateau
authors.forename: Luc Van
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Ham
authors.forename: André De
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rick
authors.forename: Stanislas U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Sys
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D013045:Species Specificity