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h3rbi74 t1_j42v004 wrote

Reply to comment by alexpap031 in How do giraffes breathe? by NimishApte

I am actually a CVT and am responsible for monitoring ICU patients on ECGs regularly and very familiar with basic cardiology. A high HR does not on its own equal Vfib. (I have seen SVT in large dogs well into the 300s many times, for example.) Also, giraffes are unique in many ways and cannot be compared to humans. A BP of 220/180 would also not be sustainable long term for a human but that is normal for them in order to allow a more typical pressure by the time it gets all the way up to their brain.

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alexpap031 t1_j42wuzd wrote

We are talking about 500 bpm. That's like 8 per second. In a huge heart.

I can't see how a big heart like that could pump enough blood to not faint immediately even for a human, let alone an animal several times bigger, and then, if it doesn't get pretty fast back to normal result in death.

I know the fibrillation part is an exageration, but sill, 500bpm?

Do you thing a human, let alone a bigger animal wouldn't instantly faint?

Edit: You can't compare a dog that is maybe 35-50 kg to a grown man who is 80 and then use this to talk about giraffes as you can't compare blood presure extremes to heart rate extremes.

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