Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How well heart x-rays find fluid around the heart in dogs
By Guglielmini, Carlo et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2012·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Accuracy of radiographic vertebral heart score and sphericity index in the detection of pericardial effusion in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 51 dogs with fluid around the heart (pericardial effusion) and compared them to other dogs with heart problems but no fluid. The researchers measured the size and shape of the heart using X-rays and found that dogs with fluid had larger and rounder hearts. They identified specific measurement cutoffs that could help vets detect pericardial effusion more accurately. However, these measurements were only moderately effective in distinguishing between dogs with and without fluid around the heart.
People also search for: dog heart problems symptoms · pericardial effusion in dogs · dog heart size X-ray interpretation
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of radiographically derived measurements of vertebral heart score (VHS) and sphericity index (SI) in the detection of pericardial effusion (PE) in dogs. DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. Animals-51 dogs with PE associated with various cardiac disorders, 50 dogs with left- or right-sided cardiac disorders without PE, 50 dogs with bilateral cardiac disorders without PE, and 50 healthy dogs. PROCEDURES: Measurements of VHS on lateral (lateral VHS) and ventrodorsal (ventrodorsal VHS) radiographs, SI on lateral (lateral SI) and ventrodorsal (ventrodorsal SI) radiographs, and global SI (mean of lateral SI and ventrodorsal SI) were obtained. Receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the radiographic indexes at differentiating dogs with PE from those with other cardiac disorders without PE. RESULTS: Measurements of lateral and ventrodorsal VHS were significantly higher in dogs with PE, compared with values for all dogs without PE. Measurements of lateral, ventrodorsal, and global SI were significantly lower in dogs with PE, compared with values for all dogs without PE. Cutoff values of > 11.9, > 12.3, and ≤ 1.17 for lateral VHS, ventrodorsal VHS, and global SI, respectively, were the most accurate radiographic indexes for identifying dogs with PE. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Cardiac silhouettes of dogs with PE were larger and more rounded, compared with those of dogs with other cardiac disorders without PE. Objective radiographic indexes of cardiac size and roundness were only moderately accurate at distinguishing dogs with PE from dogs with other cardiac disorders without PE.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23039979/