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

Disclosures: No disclosures to report. is a new echocardiographic technique that allows an objective and quantitative evaluation of global and regional myocardial function through the analysis of the motion of speckles that are created by the interaction of ultrasonic beams and the myocardium during the 2-dimensional examination. We tested the hypothesis that 2D-STE may detect left ventricular systolic dysfunction, not diagnosed by conventional echocardiography, in dogs with SIRS. Seventeen dogs with evidence of SIRS and 17 healthy dogs as a control group were included in this prospective study. All the procedures were performed for diagnostic purpose; the control group was composed of healthy dogs undergoing surgical castration or ovariohysterectomy. We excluded from the study breeds predisposed to dilated cardiomyopathy, pregnant females, dogs treated with opioids, sedatives or anesthetic drugs during the 12 h before echocardiography. We also excluded dogs with previous diagnosis of, or echocardiographic evidence of congenital or acquired cardiac disease and dogs with an arrhythmia. At the time of Hospital admission each dog was submitted to standard 2D, M-mode, Doppler and 2D-STE with simultaneous ECG and blood pressure measurement. Furthermore, blood samples were obtained for CBC, biochemical profile and the measurements of cTnI and CRP serum levels. The results showed that the standard echocardiographic indices of systolic function such as EF, FS were not significantly different between the two groups. On the contrary, the Left Ventricular Global Longitudinal Peak Strain of endomyocardial layer and the STE-derived Ejection Fraction (STE-EF) were significantly lower in the SIRS group than in the control group. We did not find significant correlation between CRP serum levels and 2D-STE variables and between cTnI and STE variables. Furthermore we did not find a significant difference in cTnI serum levels between the two groups. Our study demonstrated that 2D-STE was more sensitive than standard echocardiography in detecting early or mild to moderate myocardial dysfunction, not detected by conventional echocardiography, in a population of dogs with SIRS. Disclosures: No disclosures to report. Chronic valvular heart disease is common in the Cavalier King Charles spaniel (CKCS). However, genetic factors contributing to development or progression of the disease are unknown. Although classically considered a non-inflammatory disease, upregulated expression of genes involved in inflammation and immune function has been identified in affected valvular tissue. Therefore, genetic determinants of the immune response could influence disease progression in individual dogs. The aims of this study were to document major histocompatibility haplotype (MHC) dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) class II haplotypes in the CKCS, and to examine potential associations between individual haplotypes and progression of disease.