Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat and dog with heart duct issue - how CT helped surgery
By Karn, M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2022·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Medial insertion of the patent ductus arteriosus characterized by computed tomography angiography in a cat and dog.
Plain-English summary
A young cat and a young dog both had a heart condition called a patent ductus arteriosus, which caused abnormal blood flow. When veterinarians tried to perform surgery to fix it, they had trouble seeing the ductus properly, so the surgery was unsuccessful. Afterward, they used a special imaging technique called computed tomography angiography to get a better look at the ductus and found it was in an unusual position. They then successfully treated both pets using a less invasive method called transvenous coil embolization, which blocked the ductus and resolved the issue.
People also search for: cat heart condition treatment · dog patent ductus arteriosus surgery · imaging for heart problems in pets
Abstract
Surgical ligation of a left-to-right shunting patent ductus arteriosus was attempted in two animals. In both cases, a young cat and dog, ligation was complicated by poor visualization of the ductus resulting in unsuccessful ligation. Post-operatively, both the cat and dog underwent computed tomography angiography to characterize the location and morphology of the patent ductus arteriosus. In both cases, computed tomography angiography revealed a left-to-right shunting patent ductus arteriosus with an insertion location medial to the left pulmonary artery branch compared to the typical location. We hypothesize that this atypical location resulted in a difficult surgical visualization from the left thoracotomy approach. Transvenous coil embolization of the duct from the external jugular vein was performed in both cases and resulted in successful occlusion. Variations in the medial-lateral insertion of the ductus arteriosus may have consequences for surgical intervention. If an atypical location of a patent ductus arteriosus is suspected on transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography angiography prior to ligation may be useful to further define ductal location and help guide the surgical approach.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35349853/