Veterinary Medicine and Science (May 2023)
Echocardiographic changes in the progress of reverse shunt and improvement to left‐to‐right shunt after medical treatment in dogs with bidirectional patent ductus arteriosus or ventricular septal defect: A report of two cases
Abstract
Abstract Two Maltese dogs were referred for evaluation of a congenital heart disease: one was diagnosed with patent ductus arteriosus and the other was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect. The PDA patient was diagnosed with congenital heart disease 2 weeks ago and the VSD patient about 11 months ago at another hospital. Echocardiographic findings revealed a bidirectional shunt condition, and the dogs were treated with medical management using sildenafil and oxygen inhalation. After medical management, the dogs returned to clinically normal conditions, and echocardiographic findings revealed a return to left‐to‐right shunt tendency. These dogs had no clinical signs associated with heart disease 3 years after treatment. This case report describes changes in echocardiography findings according to the progression of the reverse shunt and the possibility of improvement to a left‐to‐right shunt after medical treatment.
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