I am a veterinarian. My own dog, a 10 year old male doberman pinscher, has megaesophagus. He recently experienced an episode of arrhythmia (detectable by palpation and confirmed by ascultation) shortly after running an agility course. He converted to normal rhythm (before I was able to run an EKG) after he drank water and was sat upright, elevating his thorax. When an EKG was obtained about 36 hours later, it showed no abnormalities and his echocardiogram revealed mild mitral regurg but no signs of cardiomyopathy. I theorized that because he did not drink very much water (due to the cold ambient temperature), food in the esophagus put pressure against his heart when he was running and jumping the agility course, triggering the arrthymia.
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
11 January 2008
I am a veterinarian. My own dog, a 10 year old male doberman pinscher, has megaesophagus. He recently experienced an episode of arrhythmia (detectable by palpation and confirmed by ascultation) shortly after running an agility course. He converted to normal rhythm (before I was able to run an EKG) after he drank water and was sat upright, elevating his thorax. When an EKG was obtained about 36 hours later, it showed no abnormalities and his echocardiogram revealed mild mitral regurg but no signs of cardiomyopathy. I theorized that because he did not drink very much water (due to the cold ambient temperature), food in the esophagus put pressure against his heart when he was running and jumping the agility course, triggering the arrthymia.
Competing interests
None declared