Project

Non-invasive determination of arterial wall stiffness for cardiovascular risk assessment in horses

Code
3F027216
Duration
01 October 2016 → 30 September 2020
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Agricultural and food sciences
    • Veterinary anatomy, morphology and (clinical) pathology
    • Veterinary internal medicine and pathophysiology
    • Veterinary medical imaging
    • Veterinary physiology, pathophysiology and biochemistry
Keywords
horse arterial wall stiffness vascular disease
 
Project description

Sudden, unexpected death in horses, due to vascular rupture, is a relatively frequent but poorly understood event that not only affects riders’safety, but also the public opinion on the horse industry in general. Rupture of a specific blood vessel may happen at rest, during foaling, breeding or intensive exercise. The reason why certain blood vessels suddenly rupture is unknown but a relation with age, gender, breed and intensive training has been suggested. In human medicine the stiffness of the arterial wall, the arterial wall stiffness (AWS), is known to be an independent predictor for cardiovascular disease and different techniques are available to evaluate this AWS. The aim of this project is to develop a new, easy to use, non-invasive method for measurement and evaluation of arterial wall stiffness in horses. Subsequently this technique will be used to identify the effect of age, gender, breed and intensive training on the arterial wall stiffness in horses. The final goal is to be able to perform risk assessment of vascular death in horses and thus reduce risks for sudden death in horses.