The prevalence of cardiac arrhythmia in Khuzestan buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

The present study was performed to establish the prevalence of cardiac arrhythmia in 100 clinically healthy buffaloes of different ages and sexes. The buffaloes were divided into male (n=41) and female (n=59) and two age groups (less than 2.5, n=53, and more than 2.5, n=47). After taking the anamnesis and performing a clinical examination, electrocardiogram was obtained based on an apex lead system with the paper speed of 25mm sec-1 and sensitivity of 10 mm mv(-1) at rest. The electrocardiograms were evaluated and the results showed that 70% of the buffaloes were affected with some kind of arrhythmia. The most frequent arrhythmias were wandering pacemaker (57% of all buffaloes), Sinus arrhythmia (29%), Second-degree atrioventricular (AV) block (9%), Electrical alternance (5%), and First degree AV block (2%). In the two age groups, significant difference in the prevalence of the arrhythmia was observed only for sinus arrhythmia and second degree atrioventricular block, The frequencies of these two cardiac arrhythmias were higher in the younger buffaloes (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of the different arrhythmia between males and females.