Electrocardiographic Studies in Shall Sheep

Özet

The use of sheep in experimental animal models has increasedrecently. In the present study, we investigated normal electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters of clinically healthy Shall sheep.The animals were divided into two gender and age groups.Electrocardiograms were recorded on a base-apex lead, usinglimb lead I for at least 2 minutes. The heart rate range was71–166 beats/min, with an average and standard deviationof 112.47±29.36. Statistical tests did not reveal any significant differences between two genders and ECG parameters.On the other hand, there was a significant difference between different age groups in the heart rate (p<0.001), P duration (p=0.030), QRS duration (p=0.005), and the P–R interval(p=0.005), Q–T interval (p<0.001), and R–R interval (p<0.001).Sheep with sinus arrhythmias had a significantly lower meanheart rate than sheep with normal rhythm (p=0.007). Furthermore, an analysis indicated that there was a significant difference between the age groups and the cardiac dysrhythmias(p<0.01). The results of this study can be used as a reference instudies on the Shall sheep breed.