Research Communications of the 27(th) ECVIM-CA Congress: Intercontinental, Saint Julian's, Malta, 14th to 16th September 2017

Disclosures: No disclosures to report. Dachshunds are affected by chronic mitral valve disease (CMVD) which is the most often heart disease in dogs. CMVD develops mainly in small animals, but in chondrodystrophic breeds is more common. Dachshunds are predisposed to develop mitral valve prolapse (MVP) which is a systolic displacement of one or both mitral leaflets beyond the mitral valve annulus. The MVP is associated with marked sinus arrhythmia in Dachshund. The hypothesis is that adult healthy Dachshund dogs are predisposed to exhibit MVP before mitral regurgitation. We performed a prospective study with client-owned animals that were screened by physical examination, thoracic radiography, electrocardiography, systolic blood pressure measurement, echocardiography and laboratory tests (CBC, biochemical blood urea and creatinine Pulmonary hypertension (PH) has been reported in dogs infected with Angiostrongylus vasorum. Moderate to severe PH was identified in a small portion of dogs, associated with shorter survival time in a retrospective study. Only mild PH was identified in experimentally infected dogs. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of PH in dogs presented to a university clinic with A. vasorum infection and to describe associated echocardiographic changes in these dogs. Dogs presented between November 2013 and February 2017 with confirmed A. vasorum infection based on positive Baerman coproscopy, Ag detection in blood or PCR in BALF were retrospectively included. Diagnosis of PH was based solely on radiography (group 1) or plus echocardiography (group 2). In group 2, PH severity was determined by tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRmax), pulmonic insufficiency velocity (PRmax). When no regurgitation was measurable, indirect signs of PH such as, right heart remodeling, main pulmonary artery dilation (PA/Ao), acceleration time to ejection time (AT/ET), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and pulmonary vein diameter-to-pulmonary artery diameter ratio (PV/PA) were taken into account.