Comparison of Hand-Held and Conventional ECG Units for Measuring Rate and Rhythm

Electrocardiographs (ECG’s) are useful in evaluating exercise intolerance, characterizing arrhythmias, and monitoring antiarrhythmic therapy in horses. However, conventional ECG units are expensive, can be difficult to use on refractory patients, and are cumbersome pieces of equipment, especially in an ambulatory practice. In contrast, hand-held technology has recently become available to record ECG’s in a variety of species, including the horse.1 However, these hand-held instruments have not been validated for use in horses, in comparison with conventional ECG units. The purpose of this study was to compare a new hand-held ECG unit with a conventional ECG unit in order to evaluate its accuracy and practicality in measuring heart rate and examining rhythm.