Hi guys!
I’ve been asked to scan a heart of an 18 month old greyhound. This greyhound belongs to a charity adoption program. The history is coughing and arrhythmia on auscultation. The dog was desexed and survived the surgery. (Sorry its really vague, thats all I got).
Hi guys!
I’ve been asked to scan a heart of an 18 month old greyhound. This greyhound belongs to a charity adoption program. The history is coughing and arrhythmia on auscultation. The dog was desexed and survived the surgery. (Sorry its really vague, thats all I got).
I was hoping to get a second opinion on this case. The left atrium and left ventricle is enlarged and there’s moderate turbulence noted in the left ventricle on short axis. I did not observe any congenital abnormalities ( VSD, ASD etc…) There is mitral regurgitation observed–>2ndry to severely enlarged LA(MV tips are not touching) and rounding of the mitral valves. There is also mild tricuspid regurgitation. PA and AO velocity is normal.
Questions:
1. The turbulence in the LV is due to the arrhythmia?
2. Is this a weird case of mitral dysplasia?
3. Do you think treating the arrhythmia and possible congestive heart failure will help ( as opposed to euthanasia)?- prognosis?
4. Am I missing a rare disease in this dog?
Comments
Hi!
Looks to me like mitral
Hi!
Looks to me like mitral dysplasia (possible clefts within the leaflets) and sec severe MR and LV/LA dilation. The arrhythmia is likely afib. The turbulence within the LV could be due do inflow turbulence.
Pls adjust your PRF (Nyquist limit should be at least 0.9 in a case like this) and the color persistence (shoudl be set at 0 to 1)
What we need is an ECG, chest rads, and MItral inflow profiles (cw/pw) as well as exact short axis views from the valve.
If there are truley clefts in the mitral valve the dog could potentially profit from surgery (if done within a reasonable time frame).
I would start with an ACEI + Spironolactone + Pimobendan + very low dose furosemide (0.5 mg/kg/day) right now. Of afib is confirmed, I would consider digoxin (diltiazem) or amiodarone.
A thorough exam and follow up is really critially important for this dog.
Thank you for posting!
Peter
Thank you for the reply and
Thank you for the reply and reassurance Pete! appreciate the help:) Thank also for the tips about the PRF. I’m not too familiar with colour persistence but will figure it out on the machine.
I have attached a file of the mitral inflow profile. (What are we looking for?)
I also have a video of the MV in short axis but am unable to attach video mode in this chat.
Ps: any idea how to attached a video?
Unfortunately its a technical
Unfortunately its a technical limitation that videos can be attached only on the first part of the thread so you would have to start another thread… I know its lumpy but a technical reality and no easy workaround right now.
What about myocarditis here given the history?? parvo?? infectious?? Chagas…depends on your region
Hi Eric,
Yeah good point
Hi Eric,
Yeah good point about the parvo. I’ll see if they can run some blood tests.
Would you expect dogs with the cardiac form of parvo to be clinical quite early in life as compared to this dog that is now 13 months old?
I had to google if we have chagas in my region. (i had no idea what it was until now.) Apparently we have it in this part of the world– newly emerging infectious disease, there was a second reported case in Australia( in humans). so there you go! learnt something new today:)