Double-outlet right ventricle associated with discordant atrioventricular connection and dextrocardia in a cat.

The prevalence of congenital cardiac disease in cats varies from 0.2 to 1 per cent, with males being more affected than females. This is probably an underestimate due to the fact that not all affected kittens are presented. Discordant atrioventricular connection (where the morphological right atrium connects to the morphological left ventricle, and the morphological left atrium connects to the morphological right ventricle) is an uncommon condition in humans and, to the authors' knowledge, has not to date been described in animals. The association between this anomaly and the double-outlet right ventricle (where both great arteries arise entirely or partially from the morphological right ventricle) is extremely rare in children. This report describes a case of a cat which presented with this association of cardiac defects.

Clinical diagnosis and alternative surgical treatment of tetralogy of Fallot in a dog. A case report

Tetralogy of Fallot was diagnosed in a 30 month-old Cocker Spaniel female, through physical, radiographic, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic exams. The animal was submitted to a palliative surgical correction, the Blalock-Taussig technique, and 46 months after the surgery, no signs of cardiopulmonary decompensation were observed

Reversible pulmonary trunk banding with a balloon catheter: assessment of rapid pulmonary ventricular hypertrophy.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess the rapid hypertrophy of the right ventricle of young goats submitted to progressive pressure load by a balloon catheter. METHODS: The hearts of 6 young goats were assessed by means of echocardiography and cell morphology during and after right ventricular hypertrophy had been produced by a balloon catheter. Myocardial samples of the right ventricular outflow tract were harvested for microscopic studies. The external diameter of longitudinally sectioned myocytes was measured at the nucleus level. The volume density of mitochondria was also determined. A balloon catheter was then placed through the right ventricular outflow tract in the pulmonary trunk and progressively inflated every 2 days. Postoperative serial echocardiography was performed at intervals of 1 to 2 days. The animals were killed after 2 to 3 weeks of right ventricular training for morphologic analysis. RESULTS: Under optical microscopy, there was a 20.5% increase in the mean diameter of the myocyte of the trained right ventricle. However, under electron microscopy, there was no significant change in the mean volume density of mitochondria from the trained right ventricle. Serial echocardiography showed equalization of the ventricular thickness over a short interval of 6 to 10 days of progressive balloon inflation. CONCLUSIONS: The balloon catheter permits the manipulation of the pressure load over the right ventricle, causing rapid hypertrophy in a 6- to 10-day period. This study suggests that nonsurgical preparation of the "pulmonary ventricle" in patients with transposition of great arteries with intact ventricular septum beyond the neonatal period could probably be accomplished within a very few days.

Displasia de tricúspide associada à anomalia de Ebstein em cäo: relato de caso / Tricuspid dysplasia associated to Ebstein's anomaly in dog: a case report

A displasia da tricúspide, associada ou näo à anomalia de Ebstein, näo é das cardiopatias mais freqüentes em cäes (Liu; Tilley6, 1976; Eyster et al.4, 1977; Netter9, 1978; Moise8, 1994). A displasia da tricúspide caracteriza-se pelo espessamento focal ou difuso dos folhetos valvulares, subdesenvolvimento das cordoalhas tendíneas e músculos papilares, separaçäo incompleta dos componentes valvares da parede ventricular, além da agenesia do tecido valvular. Simultaneamente ou näo a esta valvulopatia congênita, pode ocorrer a inserçäo mais baixa do aparelho valvar na parede do ventrículo direito, condiçäo esta conhecida como anomalia de Ebstein (Liu, Tilley6, 1976; Eyster et al.4, 1977; Moise8, 1994). No presente relato, os autores descrevem um caso de displasia da tricúspide associada à malformaçäo de Ebstein, em cäo Weimaraner, macho, de 3 meses de idade, cujo diagnóstico clínico foi estribado no exame físico, eletrocardiográfico, radiográfico e ecocardiográfico. O animal apresentou uma sobrevida de 15 meses após a realizaçäo do diagnóstico, vindo a óbito de forma súbita e natural, e a existência das alteraçöes congênitas foram confirmadas no exame necroscópico