Einthoven's triangle adapted for horses: Proposal for the Delta configuration.

Area of Science:

• Equine Cardiology
• Veterinary Electrocardiography
• Cardiac Electrophysiology

Background:

• Standardized electrocardiograms (ECGs) are essential for accurate arrhythmia diagnosis in horses.
• Current lack of standardization in equine ECGs hinders effective diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the optimal placement of Einthoven's triangle for resting ECG recordings in horses.
• To establish a basis for standardized ECG procedures to improve equine arrhythmia diagnosis and treatment.

Main Methods:

• Seventy-two healthy warmblood horses were included in the study.
• Einthoven's triangle was adapted to the transverse plane using 11 thoracic electrodes.
• Signal processing and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to analyze ECG data.

Main Results:

• The left mid-thoracic and ventral regions showed high information content via PCA.
• Base-down triangles demonstrated greater diagnostic capability, indicated by higher Euclidean distances.
• The 'Delta (Δ) configuration' (base-down triangle) was identified as the most informative placement.

Conclusions:

• The base-down 'Delta configuration' is the optimal Einthoven's triangle for equine ECGs, yielding large amplitudes.
• This configuration provides a foundation for 12-lead ECGs and vectorcardiography in an orthogonal system.
• Standardizing electrode placement can enhance the comparability of ECG data in equine cardiology.