Improved owner quality of life following surgical repair of canine myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Objective: To determine quality-of-life changes in owners of dogs undergoing mitral valve repair for myxomatous mitral valve disease, up to 12 months postoperatively.

Sample: Owners of 26 dogs undergoing mitral valve repair at a single UK veterinary referral hospital.

Methods: Dogs underwent mitral valve repair under cardiopulmonary bypass as previously described.

Use of the Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health questionnaire to assess health-related quality of life before and after mitral valve repair in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Objective: To determine changes in health-related quality of life up to 12 months after surgery in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease that undergo mitral valve repair.

Animals: 54 dogs that underwent mitral valve repair at a United Kingdom referral hospital.

Procedures: Health-related quality of life was assessed with a previously validated, owner-completed questionnaire before and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery.

Surgical Management of Three Dogs with an Interatrial Communication and Atrioventricular Valve Abnormalities.

• Large interatrial communications in dogs are rare. • When indicated, surgical closure of an interatrial communication is possible. • When indicated, surgical repair of the atrioventricular valve is possible.

Interventricular Septal Hematoma Associated with Surgical Mitral Valve Repair in Four Dogs.

• IVSH may occur in dogs following surgical MVR. • The cause of IVSH in dogs undergoing MVR remains unknown. • Mortality attributable to IVSH in these four dogs was 50%.

Increased insulin-like growth factor 1 concentrations in a retrospective population of non-diabetic cats diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to document whether a proportion of non-diabetic cats with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) previously diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have elevated circulating insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) concentrations.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of residual blood samples obtained at the time of echocardiographic diagnosis of HCM from a population of 60 non-diabetic cats were analysed for circulating IGF-1 concentrations using a validated radioimmunoassay and compared with a control group of 16 apparently healthy cats without LVH. Clinical and echocardiographic data for cats with an IGF-1 level >1000 ng/ml were compared with those with an IGF-1 level <800 ng/ml.

Tricuspid valve dysplasia: A retrospective study of clinical features and outcome in dogs in the UK.

The objective of this study was to determine the demographic, clinical and survival characteristics and to identify risk factors for mortality due to tricuspid valve dysplasia in UK dogs. Records of client-owned dogs diagnosed with tricuspid valve dysplasia at a referral centre were retrospectively reviewed. Only dogs diagnosed with tricuspid valve dysplasia based on the presence of a right-sided heart murmur identified prior to one year of age, and confirmed with Doppler echocardiography, were included.

Cytological diagnosis of cardiac masses with ultrasound guided fine needle aspirates.

Background: Cardiac masses are uncommon in the canine population. When present, an attempt should be made to obtain a definitive diagnosis. Our goal with this case series was to report that as long as anatomic location permits, obtaining fine needle aspirates (FNAs) for cytological evaluation is practical, safe, and may provide a definitive diagnosis.