Facilities : Diagnostics : Electrocardiography
Electrocardiography or (ECG as it is also known) is a way of measuring the electrical conductivity of the heart.
This can give us information about how your pet's heart is working, if it is larger than it should be or why it is beating irregularly.
When would we recommend an ECG?
We may recommend an ECG if we suspect your pets heart is missing beats for example if he has fainted or collapsed or if an irregular rhythm is picked up on a routine examination during vaccination for instance.
It may also form part of our investigation of a cough or suspected cardiac disease.
Some large breeds of dog such as Irish Wolfhounds or Great Danes may have "occult" cardiac disease which may show up on an ECG before there are any clinical signs and we may ask to monitor your pet at regular intervals if we suspect he may be at risk of this.
Also if your pet is on certain heart medications such as digoxin we may ask to perform an ECG to ensure there are no signs of toxicity.
What happens when my pet has an ECG?
If your pet is going to have an ECG we usually prefer not to sedate him as this could interfere with the reading.
We may choose to admit him or her if we are carrying out other procedures or we may ask you to come in with your pet at a quiet time if we feel they will be more settled in your presence.
We may lie your pet down on a blanket on the table or floor depending on his size, or he may be able to remain sitting but it is very important that he is still as movement will interfere with the trace.
There are 4 leads that have to attach to his skin under his front and back legs nearest to the body.
Most animals do not seem to feel any discomfort with this procedure.
A small amount of surgical spirit is applied and the procedure should take no more than 10 minutes.
What happens next?
Interpreting the trace can be a specialist task, we will provide a preliminary interpretation, in many cases this will be sufficient, e.g. if the heart rhythm is normal no further interpretation will be needed.
If we feel that we would benefit from a specialists opinion, both for the actual trace and in the treatment to be followed we are able to send referral of the trace (along with any other supporting material such as radiographs) to a certified cardiologist at a small extra charge.
As performing the ECG is relatively straightforward we will be able to monitor progress and the effects of any medication easily.
