Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Complications and death rates in 336 dogs after heart procedures
By LeBlanc, N L et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2019·Oregon State University, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of major complications and procedural mortality in 336 dogs undergoing interventional cardiology procedures in a single academic center.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 336 dogs underwent various heart procedures, including pacemaker implantation and balloon valvuloplasty, to treat heart problems. While the overall risk of major complications was low at 5% during the procedures and 6% afterward, there was a 2% chance of mortality. The procedures that involved pacemaker implantation and balloon valvuloplasty had higher complication rates compared to those that closed a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Overall, the findings suggest that while complications can occur, most dogs do well after these heart interventions.
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Overall complication rates associated with a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic interventional cardiac procedures in a contemporary academic setting have not been reported. ANIMALS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive interventional procedures performed for client-owned dogs were retrospectively analyzed to characterize procedural complications and mortality. RESULTS: Three hundred sixty-four procedures were performed on 336 dogs. Interventions included attempted or completed transvenous pacemaker (PM) implantation (n = 134) with subsequent pacing system revision (n = 8), pulmonic balloon valvuloplasty (BVP) (n = 117) with a subset of patients undergoing an additional BVP (n = 14), transarterial closure of left-to-right shunting patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) (n = 66), diagnostic angiography and/or cardiovascular pressure measurement (n = 9), transvenous temporary pacing (n = 7), septal defect occlusion (n = 5), heartworm extraction (n = 3), and BVP catheter fragment retrieval (n = 1). The prevalence of major perioperative and postoperative complications for all procedures was 5% and 6%, respectively, and the procedural mortality rate was 2%. The overall rate of major complications was 12% for the PM group, 11% for the BVP group, and 2% for the PDA occlusion group. Both PM implantation and BVP have higher rates of major complications overall compared with PDA occlusion (p=0.0151). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that the prevalence of major complications and mortality associated with interventional cardiac procedures is low; however, significant differences exist in complication rates between procedures.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31174729/