Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with sunken chest and heart blockage treated by external splinting
By Gifford, Angela T & Flanders, James A·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2010·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: External splinting for treatment of pectus excavatum in a dog with right ventricular outflow obstruction.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A young dog with a noticeable dip in its chest, a heart murmur, and severe breathing problems was diagnosed with a condition called pectus excavatum, which was pressing on its heart. To treat this, veterinarians used an external splint to support the dog's chest. After three weeks and again at four months, follow-up tests showed that both the chest shape and the heart's function had improved significantly. The dog was able to breathe better and had a healthier heart after the treatment.
People also search for: dog breathing problems · pectus excavatum treatment dog · dog heart murmur care
Abstract
Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction was diagnosed by Doppler echocardiography in a young dog with a cardiac murmur, severe dyspnea, and a prominent sternal depression. Thoracic radiography confirmed a diagnosis of pectus excavatum involving the caudal third of the sternum. The right ventricular outflow obstruction was attributed to cardiac compression from the dorsally deviated sternum. External surgical splinting of the sternabrae, demonstrated by video in this report, was used to treat the pectus excavatum. Radiographic and Doppler echocardiographic examination 3 weeks and 4 months post-splinting documented resolution of both pectus excavatum and right ventricular outflow obstruction.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20188643/