Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chest X-ray changes linked to pulmonary hypertension severity in 60
By Adams, Dustin S et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2017·Colorado State University, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Associations between thoracic radiographic changes and severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension diagnosed in 60 dogs via Doppler echocardiography: A retrospective study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old Labrador was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) after showing signs of breathing problems. The veterinarian used a noninvasive test called Doppler echocardiography to assess the severity of the condition. Radiographs (X-rays) were also taken to look for changes in the heart and blood vessels, but these images did not reliably indicate how severe the hypertension was. The study suggests that while X-rays can be helpful, they should be used alongside Doppler echocardiography for a complete diagnosis.
People also search for: dog breathing problems · Labrador pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment · dog heart disease symptoms
Abstract
Doppler echocardiography is a noninvasive method for estimating and grading pulmonary arterial hypertension. No current literature associates significance of radiographic findings with severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension. We hypothesized that the number and conspicuity of radiographic findings suggestive of pulmonary arterial hypertension would be greater based on the severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Dogs with pulmonary arterial hypertension and normal control dogs were included in this retrospective, case control study. Three radiologists blinded to echocardiographic results scored thoracic radiographs for right ventricular and main pulmonary artery enlargement and pulmonary lobar artery enlargement, tortuosity, and blunting by multiple methods. Presence or absence of each finding was scored in an additive fashion and averaged for each grade of pulmonary arterial hypertension severity. Seventy-one dogs (60 dogs with pulmonary arterial hypertension and 11 control dogs) of which some had multiple studies were included: 20 mild, 21 moderate, 25 severe, and 11 absent pulmonary arterial hypertension. The following radiographic findings were significantly associated with increasing pulmonary arterial hypertension severity: right ventricular enlargement by "reverse D" and "3/5-2/5 cardiac ratio" methods, main pulmonary artery enlargement, and caudal lobar artery enlargement by the "3rd rib" method. Mean scores for severe pulmonary arterial hypertension and normal dogs were significantly different (P-value < 0.0001). Mean scores between different pulmonary arterial hypertension grades increased with severity but were not statistically significant. Individually and in combination, radiographic findings performed poorly in differentiating severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Findings indicated that thoracic radiographs should be utilized in conjunction with Doppler echocardiography in a complete diagnostic work-up for dogs with suspected pulmonary arterial hypertension.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28371108/