How Cardiac Rhythm Interpretation Services Can Help Diagnose and Treat Heart Conditions in Animals

How Cardiac Rhythm Interpretation Services Can Help Diagnose and Treat Heart Conditions in Animals

The diagnosis of heart problems in animals often occurs through a veterinary ECG rhythm monitoring service. It involves taking a look at patterns in the electrical activities of the heart to possibly pick out abnormalities that might point to arrhythmia and other heart defects. Here at Techindia, we also provide cardiac rhythm interpretation services specifically geared toward serving the healthcare needs of a variety of pets and animals at large. Today, we’ll show you the insider’s view of how it all works and the tactics and techniques that we rely on to uncover heart conditions. Let’s get started. 

Monitoring as the first step 

Before we can get down to any actual interpretation work, we first need to collect the relevant data. That begins through the recommendation of the appropriate monitoring technology depending on the needs of the patient in question. 

A physical examination (PE) usually precedes this phase, with physicians typically on the lookout for visible symptoms of heart conditions, some of which may include: 

• Heart murmurs 
• Persistent coughs
• Breathing difficulties
• Poor exercise tolerance
• Abdominal swellings, etc.

The findings of the PE may or may not reveal symptoms, because some arrhythmias, for example, can occur asymptomatically or devoid of any clear signs. So, whatever the results, a more in-depth ECG analysis is still necessary either way. 

Now onto the monitoring phase, the exact duration of which- as well as the technology to be used- will depend on the findings of the first stage. If the patient exhibits severe symptoms, the physician will recommend placing the animal on short-term monitoring. That may entail 24-to-48-hour holter or event monitoring.

For cases where the animal doesn’t exhibit any symptoms or they are too subtle to notice, the care facility might instead opt for long-term monitoring solutions. These may last anywhere from one week to 30 days depending on various factors. This approach is ideal when the physician suspects very sporadic and intermittent arrythmias that may not be picked up in a conventional ECG test. Either way, the monitoring phase will involve attaching electrodes at specific areas of the body, with wireless technology serving as the conduit for relaying the information to a data management center. 

Next up is ECG scoring and interpretation

Once the clinical team has the ECG data they need, the diagnostic process will now move on to the most important part: cardiac rhythm interpretation services. MD board-certified physicians will take charge of this part of the process. They will perform: 

• 3/6/12 lead ECG analysis
• Cardiac event analysis in near real-time
• Holter monitor interpretation
• And even ACT (ambulatory cardiac telemetry)

In essence, they will be analyzing and scoring ECG strips recorded across time to identify threshold violations and irregular rhythm patterns. The experts will be taking a look at various important factors, including interval durations, waveform amplitudes, and heart rate, both ventricular and atrial. 

The manner or nature of the QRS complex will be of particular interest to the physician. As will be the durations for the QT segment and P-R interval as well. When assessing the rhythm, the findings of the ECG will be compared with what is normal for that species of animal, in relation as well with their age and body weight. 

Physicians then perform ECG reporting

ECG reporting will be in tandem with the interpretation as scorers will be taking note of the findings as they progress through the analysis. Here at Techindia, our cardiac interpretation and reporting services provide ECG reports in near real-time, around-the-clock, no matter what day of the week. 

We understand that heart conditions have to be taken seriously, and thus seek to ensure minimal turnaround so that the animal can start on the appropriate treatment plan as soon as possible. Beyond turnaround, our ECG reports are also desirable for their: 

• Accuracy in reporting, due to a thorough QC process
• Compliance with various guidelines from HL7 to HIPPA
• Quality and clinical action ability
• Advanced diagnostics and data

Deductions from these reports will enable the physician to be able to categorize an arrhythmia, that is, of course, if there is one to be found. 

Common arrhythmias that are likely to be found

Generally, an ECG rhythm monitoring service will be able to unearth two categories of arrhythmia namely supraventricular and ventricular, depending on whether they occur in the heart’s upper or lower chambers

Beyond these two broad categories, the ECG report will also be able to further narrow down the findings to a highly specific type of arrhythmia. Some common ones that veterinary ECGs often bring to light include: 

• Atrial flutter
• Atrial Fibrillation 
• Ventricular tachycardia
• Atrioventricular block 
• Sinus bradycardia
• Sinus tachycardia, among others 

Treatment options for animals with arrhythmias

The appropriate course of treatment for the animal differs according to the type of arrhythmia they have and its stage. In more fortunate cases, some arrhythmias can be harmless and so they may be no need to pursue further clinical action. 

On the flip side, life-threatening arrhythmias may warrant a number of medical interventions, such as: 

• Pacemaker implants that help to regulate heart rhythm 
• Heart surgery to correct tissue defects 
• Medications such as beta blockers 

The good news is that some arrhythmias in animals can be cured to ensure the animal goes on to live a full life. The key is to get an early diagnosis to ensure early intervention before health deteriorates to the point of irreversible damage. Other arrhythmias may also be fully resolved without the need for surgery whatsoever. 

Get top veterinary ECG reporting services at Techindia

At Techindia, our ECG reporting division has more than 21,000,000 hours of ECG reporting under its belt. This immense experience ensures we have the skillsets to support monitoring, collection, and reporting. Our highly accomplished team is compromised of not just MD cardiologists but also bio-statisticians and data managers who help handle the administrative side of things. Furthermore, our cardiac interpretation and reporting services also bring AI into the fold, using deep learning algorithms to further lower the margin for error and diagnose heart conditions in animals faster and more accurately. Contact Techindia today for veterinary ECG reporting