A preliminary study on normal electrocardiographic parameters of ostriches (Struthio camelus)

Electrocardiograms were taken from 100 normal healthy male and female ostriches which were 1 to 15 months old using a base apex lead. The heart rate of those less than 3 months old ranged from 107 to 250 beats per minute with a mean of 171.47 +/- 9.03 and that of ostriches of more than 3 months old ranged from 43 to 167 with a mean of 90.52 +/- 2.64 beats/minute. The P-waves were positive in all cases except in 1 ostrich which it was isoelectric. The ORS complexes were mainly negative and either monophasic (QS) or biphasic (rS or RS). The T-wave showed more variation than other waves. The durations of P P-R, QRS, Q-T and T-waves of chicks and of those more than 3 months of age (4-15-month-old) were 0.04 +/- 0.00, 0.06 +/- 0.00; 0.14 +/- 0.04, 0.16 +/- 0.00; 0.04 +/- 0.00, 0.06 +/- 0.00; 0.18 +/- 0.00, 0.27 +/- 0.00 and 0.06 +/- 0.00, 0.09 +/- 0.01 s, respectively, and amplitudes of the main direction of P-, QRS and T- waves of 2 groups were 0.29 +/- 0.02, 0.26 +/- 0.01; 1.87 +/- 0.17, 2.21 +/- 0.08; and 0.34 +/- 0.06, 0.37 +/- 0.02 mV, respectively. Ten cases showed cardiac dysrhythmias of which 9 showed sinus arrhythmia and 1 showed premature atrial contractions (PAC). This study showed that the base apex lead can be a suitable monitoring lead for electrocardiographic examination of ostriches.