Specific features and survival of French bulldogs with congenital pulmonic stenosis: a prospective cohort study of 66 cases.

Introduction: The objectives of this study were to characterize the epidemiological, clinical, and echocardiographic features of French bulldogs (FBs) with congenital pulmonic stenosis and document their survival times and risk factors for cardiac death (CD).

Animals: This study included 66 FBs with congenital pulmonic stenosis.

Methods: Prospective cohort study including a survival analysis to assess time to CD.

Successful transcatheter retrieval of embolized Amplatz Canine Duct Occluders in two dogs.

Transcatheter occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) using an Amplatz® Canine Duct Occluder (ACDO) is routinely performed in dogs. Pulmonary embolization of the device is a rarely reported complication of this procedure. We report here the first two cases of successful transcatheter retrieval of an embolized ACDO.

Quantitative assessment of systolic and diastolic right ventricular function by echocardiography and speckle-tracking imaging: a prospective study in 104 dogs.

Our aim was (1) to determine the within-day and between-day variability of several indices of systolic and diastolic right ventricular (RV) function by using conventional echocardiography and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) (Study 1), (2) to quantify these variables in a large healthy canine population (n = 104) with Doppler-derived estimated systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP) and left ventricular (LV) function, and (3) to establish the corresponding reference intervals (Study 2). For both studies, RV variables included tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), right fractional area change (RFAC), STE longitudinal systolic strain (StS) of the RV free wall (RVFW) and of the entire RV (., global RV StS), STE longitudinal systolic RVFW strain rate (SRS), and the diastolic early:late strain rate ratio.

Aortic dissecting aneurysm associated with systemic arterial hypertension in a cat.

Aortic dissection is characterized by a tear in the aortic wall resulting in blood from the aortic lumen penetrating into the media, which causes dissection. When aortic dissection does not cause rupture, it provokes localized dilation of the aorta or aneurism, also called dissecting aortic aneurism (DAA). This case report describes a DAA in a cat associated with systemic arterial hypertension (SAHT).

Intracardiac echocardiography: use during transcatheter device closure of a patent ductus arteriosus in a dog.

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is used in humans for percutaneous interventional procedures, such as transcatheter device closures. Intracardiac echocardiography provides high-resolution imaging of cardiac structures with two-dimensional, M-mode, Doppler, and also three-dimensional modalities. The present report describes application of ICE during transcatheter occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus using a canine ductal occluder in a dog for which transesophageal echocardiography could not provide an optimal acoustic window.