Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Measuring left atrial size on X-rays in dogs with mitral valve disease
By Lam, Christopher et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2021·Cardiology Service, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Radiographic quantification of left atrial size in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at how to better identify heart enlargement in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), a common heart condition. Researchers found that a new method called modified-vertebral left atrial size (M-VLAS) was more accurate than older techniques for measuring the size of the left atrium on X-rays. This method could help vets determine the severity of heart disease in dogs without needing an ultrasound. The study showed that using M-VLAS could reliably predict when the left atrium is enlarged, which is important for managing the condition effectively.
People also search for: dog heart disease symptoms · myxomatous mitral valve disease treatment · how to tell if my dog has heart problems
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In the absence of echocardiography, identification of cardiomegaly via thoracic radiography is a necessary criterion for classification of disease severity in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). OBJECTIVE: Modified-vertebral left atrial size (M-VLAS) facilitates objective radiographic assessment of the left atrium (LA) in 2 dimensions and identifies LA enlargement more accurately than existing methods. ANIMALS: Sixty-four dogs with various stages of MMVD and 6 control healthy dogs. METHODS: Retrospective case-control study. Medical records were searched for dogs with varying severity of MMVD. Modified-vertebral left atrial size, vertebral left atrial size (VLAS), vertebral heart size (VHS), and radiographic left atrial dimension (RLAD) were measured from thoracic radiographs and compared with echocardiographically derived measurements. RESULTS: Positive correlation to LA/Ao was identified for M-VLAS (r = 0.77, P < .001), VLAS (r = 0.76, P < .001), RLAD (r = 0.75, P < .001), and VHS (r = 0.67, P < .001). Receiver operating characteristic analyzes provided an area under the curve of 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94-1.00) for M-VLAS, which was superior to VHS (0.90, 95% CI, 0.94-1.00, P = .03) in identifying dogs with LA/Ao ≥1.6. A cut-off value of ≥3.4 vertebrae using M-VLAS provided 92.7% sensitivity and 93.1% specificity in predicting LA enlargement. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: M-VLAS, which is superior to VHS, offers an accurate and repeatable way to radiographically identify LA enlargement in dogs with MMVD.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33634912/