Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Mitral valve repair surgery in a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog
By Vurucu, Murat et al.·Published in Veterinary surgery : VS·2025·Department of Small Animal Cardiovascular Surgery·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Mitral valve repair in a dog with a modified taut-line hitch knot technique.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was brought in for severe heart problems due to mitral regurgitation, which can lead to congestive heart failure. The dog underwent open-heart surgery to repair the mitral valve using a special knot technique. After the surgery, the dog's heart function improved significantly over the next year, and he no longer showed signs of heart failure. He continued to take heart medication but needed less of it as time went on, indicating a successful outcome from the surgery.
People also search for: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel heart surgery · mitral valve repair in dogs · congestive heart failure treatment for dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To report the outcome of a dog with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) treated with open-heart surgery using the modified taut-line hitch (modified TLH) knot technique. METHODS: A 9-year-old, 8.8-kg intact male Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was referred for clinical signs of congestive heart failure secondary to severe mitral regurgitation. The dog underwent mitral valve repair under cardiopulmonary bypass. On echocardiographic examination, the left atrial-to-aortic root ratio (LA/Ao) was 2.87, and the normalized left ventricular internal diameter in diastole (LVIDdN) was 2.43. After cardiac arrest, semi-circular suture annuloplasty and chordal reconstruction using ePTFE sutures were performed. Artificial chordae lengths were adjusted using the modified TLH knot technique. RESULTS: Vertebral heart scores (VHS) were 15.0 (preoperatively), 12.0 (3 months), 12.3 (6 months) and 12.6 (1 year). LVIDd values were 46.1 mm (preoperatively), 33.3 mm (3 months), 34.1 mm (6 months) and 37.1 mm (1 year). LA/Ao ratios were 2.87 (preoperatively), 1.78 (3 months), 1.90 (6 months) and 1.97 (1 year). The patient remained on pimobendan (0.25 mg/kg every 12 h) at the intermediate-term follow-up, and from the 1-year evaluation, furosemide (2 mg/kg once daily) was prescribed in addition to pimobendan. At the long-term follow-up, no clinical signs of congestive heart failure were observed. CONCLUSION: Mitral valve repair using the modified TLH knot technique was associated with control of clinical signs and a reduction in medical therapy requirements during long-term follow-up in a dog with severe MR.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40898932/