Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with right heart failure from intrapericardial cyst surgery
By Loureiro, J et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2009·Small Animal Teaching Hospital, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Canine intrapericardial cyst - complicated surgical correction of an unusual cause of right heart failure.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old dog was brought in for signs of right-sided heart failure, which can include symptoms like lethargy, coughing, or difficulty breathing. The vet discovered an intrapericardial cyst, a fluid-filled sac around the heart that was tightly attached to the heart's lining, making surgery more complicated than usual. Despite the challenges, the cyst was surgically removed, which is typically the recommended treatment for this condition. After the surgery, the dog showed improvement in its symptoms, indicating a successful outcome.
People also search for: dog heart failure symptoms · intrapericardial cyst surgery · dog coughing and lethargy
Abstract
Intrapericardial cysts are non-neoplastic structures that can become clinically significant by compressing cardiac chambers. Surgical excision is recommended to resolve clinical signs and this has been reported to be easily achieved by blunt manipulation. The present report describes a case of an intrapericardial cyst in a dog. The singularity of this case lays on the fact that the patient was presented unusually late, at the age of four years, and most importantly that its surgical correction was significantly complicated by the strong adherence of the cyst to both the pericardium and epicardium. This was possibly the result of chronic trauma and continued haemorrhage with subsequent healing and fibrosis. It is therefore important to consider intrapericardial cysts as a possible differential diagnosis in young to middle age patients presented with signs of right-sided heart failure. Surgical excision must be planned carefully as this may not be as straightforward as previously suggested.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19769671/