OBJECTIVE: To determine whether administration of trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (TMS), detomidine (DET), or TMS plus DET would be associated with changes in ECG repolarization parameters in horses.

ANIMALS: 9 healthy adult horses.

PROCEDURES: Each horse received 4 treatments in a blinded, randomized, crossover study design as follows: TMS, 16 to 24 mg/kg, IV; DET, 0.015 to 0.02 mg/kg, IV; TMS plus DET; and saline (0.9% NaCl) solution. Surface ECG traces were obtained over 24 hours, and repolarization parameters were measured at predefined time points after each treatment and compared with a 2-way ANOVA for repeated measures.

RESULTS: Heart rate-corrected QT intervals (QTc) were significantly increased after administration of DET (mean ± SD difference in QTc, 36.57 ± 23.07 milliseconds; increase of 7%) and TMS plus DET (44.96 ± 29.16 milliseconds; increase of 9%), compared with baseline (before treatment) values and values after administration of saline solution. Saline solution and TMS alone did not affect QTc.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Administration of DET or TMS plus DET was associated with a significant and possibly clinically relevant prolongation of QTc, with prolongation of 7% to 9%, a range that is considered as a risk factor for the development of cardiac arrhythmias in people. Results were unexpected because DET is considered to be a safe sedative for horses.