Animals
Nine cardiovascularly-healthy horses classified as American Society of
Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I or II were used. This number
was chosen based on the recommendation of 8 subjects by the American
College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) for the number of
subjects required to validate noninvasive blood pressure against an
invasive technique.14 Health status was based on
physical examination with attention to cardiopulmonary auscultation,
jugular fill, packed cell volume, total protein, and abbreviated serum
chemistry. Horses were aged 2 to 30 years (median: 25) and weighed 308 -
563 kg bwt (median: 473). Quarter horses were overrepresented as a
breed. This experiment was performed simultaneously with a study
requiring invasive blood pressure monitoring with approval from the
******** Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.