Project

Right ventricular and atrial function in nature’s ultimate athlete: the horse

Code

3E002813

Duration

01 October 2013 → 30 September 2017

Funding

Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund, Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)

Promotor

Gunther van Loon

Fellow

Annelies Decloedt

Research disciplines

Agricultural and food sciences
- Veterinary internal medicine and pathophysiology
- Veterinary medical imaging
- Veterinary physiology, pathophysiology and biochemistry

Keywords

horse training echocardiography cardiology biopsy biomarker

Project description

The horse is used as an animal model for exercise-induced right ventricular and atrial remodeling, which has been linked to arrhythmias and sudden death in human athletes. The effect of induced pulmonary hypertension and exercise training on right ventricular and atrial function and structure is investigated using echocardiography, electrocardiography, cardiac biomarkers and myocardial biopsies.