Eva Zander Hesselkilde

DVM, PhD, Postdoc

evah@sund.ku.dk
ORCID: 0000-0002-6230-8372

Research Profile:

I started as a master student within The Equine Cardiac Group where I studied the presence, expression level and cellular and regional distribution of ion channels in the equine heart. After an externship at an Equine hospital in Finland I was granted a PhD Faculty Scholarship.

During my PhD I studied the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation in a chronic AF horse model. We followed the development of AF over a periode of two months. The primary focus was atrial remodelling and we hypothesized that horses with induced AF would develop electrical, functional and structural remodelling, observed as changes in atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR), reduced atrial function and changes in ion channel expression and atrial fibrosis, respectively.

Furthermore, we developed a new method for obtaining 12-lead ECGs in horses. The new “Copenhagen method” was presented at the ACVIM 2016.

After I finished my PhD I continued as a Postdoc where my primary focus are Endocardial electroanatomical mapping in horses and other large animal models.

Publications:

2019
Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Haugaard MM, Flethøj M, Carlson J, Pehrson S, Jespersen T, Platonov PG, Buhl R (2019): Effects of Dofetilide and Ranolazine on Atrial Fibrillatory Rate in a Horse Model of Acutely Induced Atrial Fibrillation, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology 30(4): 596-606.

2018
Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Fenner M, Loft-Andersen AV, Flethøj M, Kanters JK, Sattler SM, Tfelt-Hansen J, Pehrson S, Jespersen T, Buhl R (2018):Time-dependent antiarrhythmic effects of flecainide on induced atrial fibrillation in horses, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 32(5): 1708-1717.

Buhl R, Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Klein BZ, Hougaard KM, Ravn KB, Loft-Andersen AV, Fenner MF, Pipper C, Jespersen T (2018): Effect of induced chronic atrial fibrillation on exercise performance in Standardbred trotters, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 32(4): 1410-1419.

Carstensen H, Kjær L, Haugaard MM, Flethøj M, Hesselkilde EZ, Kanters JK, Pehrson S, Buhl R, Jespersen T (2018): Antiarrhythmic Effects of Combining Dofetilide and Ranolazine in a Model of Acutely Induced Atrial Fibrillation in Horses, Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology 71(1): 26-35.

Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Kruse DD, Braunstein TH, Jespersen T, Buhl R: Structural Remodeling in the Equine Heart after Pacing-Induced Atrial Fibrillation [abstract]. Proceedings of the 11th Annual European College of Equine Internal Medicine Congress; 2018 November 7-10; Ghent, Belgium.

Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Jespersen T, Pehrson S, Carlson J, Platonov PG, Buhl R: Effects of Dofetilide and Ranolazine on Atrial Fibrillatory Rate in the Horse Model of Acutely Induced Atrial Fibrillation [abstract]. 14th Annual Congress of the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society; 2018 April 15-17; Paris, France. 

2017
Hesselkilde EZ, Carstensen H, Haugaard MM, Carlson J, Pehrson S, Jespersen T, Buhl R, Platonov PG (2017): Effect of flecainide on atrial fibrillatory rate in a large animal model with induced atrial fibrillation, BMC Cardiovascular Disorders 17(1): 289.

Hesselkilde EZ, Carstensen H, Hougaard K, Ravn KB, Fenner MF, Flethøj M, Trachsel D, Jespersen T, Buhl R: Progression of Atrial Fibrillation – A study of atrial remodelling using surface ECG, Tissue Doppler Imaging and Intra Atrial Recordings [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 10th Annual European College of Equine Internal Medicine Congress; 2017 November; Budapest, Hungary

Fenner MF, Hesselkilde EZ, Carstensen H, Nissen S, Jensen M, Lunddahl C, Milnes J, Sattler SM, Jespersen T, Buhl R: Anti-arrhythmic Properties of a Potent, Selective IK,ACh Blocker in an Equine Model of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 10th Annual European College of Equine Internal Medicine Congress; 2017 November; Budapest, Hungary

Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Fenner MF, Klein BZ, Pehrson S, Jespersen T, Buhl R: Reduced Exercise Capacity in Horses Due to Atrial Fibrillation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum; 2017 June 8-10; National Harbor, Maryland, USA

Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Fenner MF, Loft-Andersen AV, Kanters JK, Pehrson S, Jespersen T, Buhl R: Antiarrhythmic Effects of Flecainide on Experimentally Induced Atrial Fibrillation of Different Duration in Horses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum; 2017 June 8-10; National Harbor, Maryland, USA

Trachsel DS, Carstensen H, Hesselkilde EZ, Fenner MF, Buhl R: Effect of Atrial Fibrillation on Exercise Performance in Horses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum; 2017 June 8-10; National Harbor, Maryland, USA

Hesselkilde EZ, Carstensen H, Haugaard MM, Carlson J, Jespersen T, Platonov PG, Buhl R: Effect of Flecainide on Atrial Fibrillatory Rate in Horses with Induced Atrial Fibrillation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum; 2017 June 8-10; National Harbor, Maryland, USA

Buhl R, Hesselkilde EZ, Carstensen H, Fenner MF, Jespersen T, Pehrson S, Hansen JT, Sattler SM: Implantable Cardiac Loop Recorders – a Novel Diagnostic Tool for Atrial Fibrillation Detection in Horses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum; 2017 June 8-10; National Harbor, Maryland, USA 

2015
Maria Mathilde Haugaard, DVM, Eva Zander Hesselkilde, DVM,* Steen Pehrson, MD, PhD, Helena Carstensen, DVM, Mette Flethøj, DVM, Kirstine Færgemand Præstegaard, DVM, Ulrik Svane Sørensen, PhD, Jonas Goldin Diness, PhD, Morten Grunnet, PhD, Rikke Buhl, DVM, PhD, Thomas Jespersen, PhD. Pharmacologic inhibition of small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels by NS8593 reveals atrial antiarrhythmic potential in horses, Heart Rhythm. 2015 Apr;12(4):825-35 

Haugaard, Maria; Pehrson, Steen; Carstensen, Helena; Flethøj, Mette; Hesselkilde, Eva; Præstegaard, Kirstine; Diness, Jonas; Grunnet, Morten; Jespersen, Thomas; Buhl, Rikke. Antiarrhythmic and Electrophysiological Effects of Flecainide on Acutely Induced Atrial Fibrillation in Healthy Horses, J Vet Intern Med. 2015 Jan;29(1):339-47

2014
Eva Z Hesselkilde, Mette E Almind, Jesper Petersen, Mette Flethøj, Kirstine F Præstegaard and Rikke Buhl. Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrolyte Disturbances in Colic Horses, Acta Vet Scand. 2014 Oct 2;56(1):58 

2013
Hesselkilde EZ, Haugaard MM, Skibsbye L, Buhl R, Jespersen T. In Vitro Characterization of the equine cardiac ion channels, European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society, 2014