For Referring Veterinarians

Advanced echocardiographic techniques lead to improvements in cardiac assessment of veterinary patients. Elements of a standard echocardiogram have historically included:  1) 2 dimensional and M-mode imaging (Fig 1A) of standard views of the heart, primarily for determining size and motion of cardiac structures; 2) color flow Doppler analysis (Fig 1B) for evaluating blood flow patterns; 3) traditional spectral Doppler analysis (Fig 1C), which measures blood flow velocity, and 4) contemporaneous ECG monitoring to accurately characterize…

Veterinary Cardiology Tip Consider the breed when assessing vertebral heart score in dogs. Thoracic radiography often provides the first glimpse of cardiac structures in dogs being evaluated for potential heart disease.  Though an important diagnostic tool, the mostly subjective nature of radiographic review poses a challenge when evaluating the heart.  Subjective impressions of heart size can be influenced by the relationship between the cardiac silhouette and the surrounding lung fields, with smaller lung fields contributing to an…

Summary Objective: Evaluate the short-term outcomes of a novel synthetic ligament for treatment of naturally occurring canine cranial cruciate ligament disease. Study design: Prospective clinical study. Animals: Dogs with unilateral cranial cruciate ligament disease (n = 50). Methods: Patient parameters evaluated included a five-point lameness score, evaluation of craniocaudal stifle instability, and radiographic findings over 24 weeks. Any postoperative complications were recorded. Results: Thirty-four out of 42 dogs experienced significant improvements…