Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Sudden heart death in young rabbit after routine surgery
By Romanucci, M et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2017·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Unexpected Cardiac Death During Anaesthesia of a Young Rabbit Associated with Fibro-fatty Replacement of the Right Ventricular Myocardium.
- Species:
- rabbit
Plain-English summary
A 6-month-old female rabbit suddenly died during routine surgery for spaying. Although she appeared healthy before the procedure, she experienced a severe drop in heart rate and cardiac arrest right after the surgery ended. A thorough examination after her death showed that she had a rare heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy, which caused her heart muscle to weaken and thin. Unfortunately, this condition is not commonly seen in rabbits, making this case particularly unusual.
People also search for: rabbit sudden death during surgery · rabbit heart problems · spaying rabbit complications
Abstract
A 6-month-old female pet rabbit was presented for routine ovariectomy. The pre-anaesthetic evaluation was unremarkable and no anaesthetic complications occurred during the procedure. However, at the end of the surgery, the rabbit suddenly showed acute bradycardia and cardiac death. Necropsy examination revealed marked dilation of the right ventricle, associated with diffuse thinning of the right ventricular free wall. Gross and histopathological findings were suggestive of a congenital dilated cardiomyopathy characterized by fibro-fatty replacement of the right ventricular myocardium. Similar myocardial lesions have not been previously described in rabbits, although they have been documented in myocardial diseases of man, dogs, cats, cattle, horses and chimpanzees.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27894597/