Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Medial insertion of the patent ductus arteriosus characterized by computed tomography angiography in a cat and dog.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology
- Year:
- 2022
- Authors:
- Karn, M et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Sciences · United States
Plain-English summary
In this study, a young cat and a young dog both had a condition called a patent ductus arteriosus, which is a blood vessel that didn't close properly after birth, causing abnormal blood flow. When the veterinarians tried to surgically fix this issue, they had trouble seeing the vessel clearly, so the surgery didn't work as planned. Afterward, they used a special imaging technique called computed tomography angiography to get a better look at the blood vessel's location and shape, which turned out to be in an unusual spot. They then successfully treated both animals by placing a coil in the blood vessel through a vein in the neck, which effectively closed it off. Overall, the treatment worked well for both the cat and the dog.
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.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35349853/