Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog collapse and death linked to atrial myocarditis causing sinus
By Woolley, R et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2007·Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Atrial myocarditis as a cause of sinus arrest in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old male cairn terrier cross was brought to the vet after experiencing intermittent collapses for four weeks. The dog had a history of heart disease and during monitoring, the vet found periods where the heart showed no electrical activity, which matched the times the dog collapsed. Sadly, the dog collapsed and died during a follow-up visit. A post-mortem exam revealed inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) as the cause of the heart's electrical failure.
People also search for: dog collapse heart problems · cairn terrier heart disease · dog myocarditis symptoms
Abstract
A 10-year-old male cairn terrier cross was presented with a history of myxomatous mitral valve disease diagnosed six months previously and with a four-week history of intermittent collapse. On 24 hour electrocardiograph (Holter) analysis, periods of no discernable electrical cardiac activity, which coincided with three collapsing episodes, were identified. Unfortunately, on re-presentation for removal of the Holter monitor, the dog collapsed and died. A post-mortem examination was conducted, and histology of the right and left atrium showed evidence of myocarditis. This is the first reported case, to our knowledge, of collapse because of electrical asystole in a dog with atrial myocarditis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17425699/