A six year old Doberman Pinscher presents to you for an acute onset of dyspnea and wheeze. On physical examination the lung sounds are harsh, there is a soft left apical systolic heart murmur, and there are several premature beats noted in the cardiac rhythm. Thoracic radiographs indicate mild left ventricular enlargement, left atrial enlargement, and pulmonary venous congestion and edema. The EKG indicates the infrequent uniform ventricular premature beat, otherwise the EKG is normal.
Does the dog have Dilated Cardiomyopathy?
The Two-dimensional Echocardiogram reveals left ventricular enlargement and left atrial enlargement. The contractility appears subjectively to be reduced. The M-mode Echocardiogram reveals an increase in the left ventricular internal dimension in diastole and systole and an increase in the left atrial internal dimension in systole.
- LVID-DIASTOLE 52mm
- LVID-SYSTOLE 46mm
- F. Shortening 11.5%
For the Doberman the LVID-D should not be more than 40mm. Thus we have documented the presence of a global reduction in contractility and marked left ventricular enlargement. This is typical of Dilated Cardiomyopathy.
Doppler Echocardiography would reveal mitral valvular insufficiency and reduced stroke volume. Although this information is useful, we were able to deduce these findings without the application of Doppler Echocardiography.