PetCaseFinder

Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Dog with mitral valve disease had heart attack from left atrial tear

By Sleeper, Meg M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2015·Department of Clinical Studies, United States·View original on PubMed

PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →

Original publication title: Myocardial infarct associated with a partial thickness left atrial tear in a dog with mitral insufficiency.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 10-year-old male neutered Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was brought in for severe weakness and trouble breathing. He had a history of heart problems and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a heart attack, and a blood clot in his heart. Unfortunately, his condition was very serious, and he was euthanized due to the poor prognosis. A postmortem exam confirmed the heart attack was likely caused by a blood clot that broke off from a tear in the heart's wall.

People also search for: dog breathing problems · Cavalier King Charles Spaniel heart disease · dog heart attack symptoms

Abstract

A 10-year-old male neutered cavalier King Charles Spaniel with a 1-year history of degenerative mitral valve disease presented for dyspnea and severe weakness. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, systolic dysfunction, presumptive myocardial infarction and a left atrial thrombus based on thoracic radiographs, electrocardiogram and echocardiographic findings. Clinical signs also suggested right foreleg embolism. The dog was euthanized due to the grave prognosis and a postmortem evaluation was performed. The postmortem examination confirmed myocardial infarction and was thought to be due to embolic showering from the thrombus attached to a partial thickness left atrial endocardial tear.

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 on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26263842/