# Conscious Indirect Blood Pressure Measurements in Asiatic Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus)

## TL;DR

Researchers validated a non-anesthetic method to measure blood pressure in conscious Asiatic black bears, enabling better hypertension monitoring.

## Contribution

Established normal blood pressure ranges in conscious bears using a validated noninvasive technique.

## Key findings

- Indirect blood pressure measurements were validated against direct arterial measurements in anesthetized bears.
- Normal systolic blood pressure for conscious Asiatic black bears was found to be 180.65 ± 37 mmHg.
- The oscillometric technique is a useful tool for monitoring blood pressure in cooperative, conscious bears.

## Abstract

At Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center, 40% of bears are diagnosed with systemic hypertension (high blood pressure in the arterial system) and require daily medication to manage it. Veterinarians have only been able to diagnose systemic hypertension in this population during health checks while animals are under anesthesia. Anesthetic drugs used have the potential to confound results of blood pressure measurements; for that reason, hypertension is diagnosed through validated secondary structural lesions. Recently, bears at the rescue center in Vietnam have been trained for cooperative conscious blood pressure measurements. Using direct arterial catheterization, this study validated indirect blood pressure measurements and then used this indirect method to determine normal ranges of blood pressure measurements in conscious, trained bears. This will allow for early diagnosis of systemic hypertension and improve the ability to evaluate protocols used for treatment. This knowledge will improve the quality of care for the hundreds of bears rescued from the bile industry and for other captive bears worldwide.

At Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center (VBRC), 40% of the current population has been diagnosed with systemic hypertension. Systemic hypertension lesions have led to fatal consequences in the form of aortic aneurysm and rupture. Historically, veterinarians were only able to diagnose systemic hypertension by identifying validated secondary structural heart and retinal lesions during annual health checks of anesthetized bears. In 2021, the VBRC began training bears for cooperative conscious blood pressure measurements to increase monitoring frequency and expedite the diagnosis of systemic hypertension in affected bears. The objective of this study was to evaluate a noninvasive method of blood pressure measurement in trained, cooperative Asiatic black bears. Indirect blood pressure measurements, using the oscillometric technique, were validated with direct arterial measurements in nine bears (6 male, 3 female, ages 13–22 years) undergoing anesthesia for annual health checks. Eleven trained bears at the VBRC without secondary lesions of systemic hypertension (6 male, 5 female, ages 7–23 years) were used to develop normal systolic ranges for Asiatic black bears using the indirect technique. Mean blood pressure measurements for this group of trained bears (n = 11) were 180.65 +/− 37 mmHg (95% CI: 126–255) systolic. These results suggest that indirect blood pressures may be a useful tool to monitor blood pressure in cooperative conscious bears at the VBRC.