Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Puppy with heart defect and persistent left cranial vena cava
By Fernandez del Palacio, M J et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·1997·Departamento de Patologí, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Persistent left cranial vena cava associated with multiple congenital anomalies in a six-week-old puppy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A six-week-old male puppy was brought in with a swollen belly, trouble breathing, and a bluish tint to his skin. The vet found a heart murmur and took X-rays that showed an enlarged heart. Further tests revealed several serious heart issues, including a hole in the heart and abnormal blood flow. Unfortunately, the puppy had multiple congenital heart defects, which were confirmed after he passed away. Sadly, due to the severity of these conditions, treatment options were limited, and the puppy did not survive.
People also search for: puppy breathing problems · puppy heart murmur · congenital heart defects in dogs
Abstract
A six-week-old male puppy was presented with a distended abdomen, dypsnoea and cyanosis. Auscultation revealed a grade II/VI systolic murmur. Thoracic radiographs showed gross cardiomegaly. An electrocardiogram revealed a narrow-complex tachycardia, deep S waves in leads I, II, III and aVF, and negative P waves in lead III. Two-dimensional echocardiography showed a high ventricular septal defect and marked dilation of the right-sided chambers. There was also an echolucent structure lateral to the left atrium at a site corresponding to the coronary sinus. Contrast echocardiography revealed right-to-left shunting through the septal defect. Necropsy confirmed the existence of a septal defect in the membranous part of the septum and a persistent left cranial vena cava with dilation of the coronary sinus. In addition, a small patent ductus arteriosus and tricuspid dysplasia were present.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9403813/