Aorticopulmonary septal defect in a dog: case report

Abstract

A 10-month-old intact female mixed breed dog was referred for evaluation of exercise-induced dyspnea and a low grade II/VI systolic murmur was detected. The communication between ascending aortic and pulmonary trunk was observed by detecting a continuous flow just above the semilunar valves on echoDopplercardiography and attested by surgery. After the surgical procedure, the dog was presented in good clinical conditions without exercise-induced dyspnea, reflecting the importance of an early and accurate diagnostic for the therapeutic success. This is the first Brazilian report of this rare congenital disease and the unique well succeed surgery in the veterinary literature.Keywords: dog, aorticopulmonary window, aorticopulmonary fenestration RESUMO Na avaliação da dispneia pós-exercício em uma cadela de 10 meses de idade, não castrada e sem raça definida, foi detectado sopro sistólico leve grau II/VI. A comunicação entre a aorta ascendente e o tronco pulmonar, observada pela presença de fluxo contínuo logo abaixo das valvas semilunares

Echocardiographic diagnosis and surgical correction of aortopulmonary window in a Belgian Shepherd Dog (Malinois)

“…In this report, exercise situations without cyanosis and dyspnoea indicated that blood oxygen saturation might be adequate in a left-to-right shunt, as described in a previous report (11). A good auscultation is one of the most important clinical examination criteria that gives clinician the idea of cardiac abnormality (8,12).…”

“…In this case, a defect of 0.65 cm could be occluded to 0.35 cm. In a dog with APW, a sensible aortopulmonar communication size was reduced from 0.58 cm to 0.31 cm, which was detected by the immediate post-operative echocardiography (11), and then reduced to 0.21 cm on post-operative sixty days. Color flow Doppler examination of the abnormal window showed a pressure gradient (33.7 mmHg) and velocity (2,90 m/s) between aorta and main PA in postoperative 4 th day (Figure-5).…”

“…Other researcher reported an atrial fibrillation (4), a supraventricular bigeminy, and trigeminy (10) in dogs with APW, relating with right (10) or left ventricular enlargement (4). In addition, Pascon et al (11) reported a ST segment depression, wide QRS complexes and increment in Q wave voltage in leads I -II after the operation, suggesting biventricular enlargement.…”

“…APW is a rare congenital anomaly, resulting from incomplete septation of the truncus arteriosus into the aorta and the PA during embryogenesis (6). According to pub-med records, there is a few report regarding with this defect in different breeds, aged from 1 month to 2 years; Labrador Retriever (6), German Shepherd (4), and mixed breed (11). This is the first case reporting diagnostic work-up, successful surgical correction and monitorization of APW in a Belgian Malinois dog, of 20-month-old.…”