• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.153-156
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• 2020

A 14-year-old intact female Cocker Spaniel dog, weighing 6.8 kg, presented with chief complaints of severe cough, dyspnea, anorexia, and exercise intolerance. It had the characteristics of a blood clot, the evidence of mitral regurgitation, a high left atrial/aortic root ratio, and pericardial effusion with a left atrial rupture due to myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD) was strongly suspected. Traditional therapy (pimobendan, furosemide, enalapril, and spironolactone) for heart failure with MMVD was provided twice a day orally, and partial pericardiectomy was performed for pericardial effusion. The medical prescriptions for MMVD were continued, and the patient's heart disease was well-controlled. However, it suddenly died 3 months after the operation.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 2001

Chronic mitral valvular insufficiency (CMVI) is the most common heart disease in dogs. The prevalence of CMVI is age-dependent. CMVI is usually affected to small to medium size breeds. It is more prevalent in males than females. The characteristic lesions of CMVI are caused by an acquired chronic structural degeneration of the mitral valve defined as endocardiosis or myxomatous degeneration. The main clinical signs are cough, respiratory distress, weakness and pleural effusion and ascites by secondary right-sided heart failure. The most prominent clinical finding is a systolic heart murmur. The thoracic radiography and echocardiography are useful methods in diagnosis of CMVI. Thoracic radiographic findings are left atrial enlargement, left main stem bronchial compression and pulmonary edema. Echocardiography is confirmed to increased left atrial and ventricular dimension, mitral regurgitation, mitral valve thickening and abnormal movement. Thoracic radiography and echocardiography are used to obtain a definite diagnosis of CMVI, and then to study the progression of the condition.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2023

Vertebral left atrial size (VLAS) is an important indicator to predict myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD) in dogs. When the caudal margin of cardiac silhouette and the dorsal margin of caudal vena cava (CdVC) could not be seen exactly, another way to evaluate VLAS is needed. The objective of this study was to assess whether a new modified VLAS (m-VLAS) could be used as an indicator to predict MMVD in 57 small breed dogs with MMVD. The m-VLAS was also used to classify American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine staging groups and left heart enlargement confirmed with echocardiograph (EchoLHE) groups. The m-VLAS was measured as the distance from the ventral aspect of the carina to the dorsal aspect of the intersection of the cardiac silhouette and the farthest LA caudal margin, not the CdVC, followed by drawing the same line beginning at the cranial edge of T4. Based on VLAS values and m-VLAS values measured for dogs with MMVD, correlations between these values and left heart enlargement groups were then evaluated. There were significant differences in both the VLAS and the m-VLAS between EchoLHE groups. The AUC of the ROC curve of the m-VLAS to detect EchoLHE was higher than that of the VLAS. The optimal cutoff value for the m-VLAS was >2.7, which had a higher specificity (86.84%) than the VLAS specificity (71.05%). This study reveals that a new m-VLAS is a more specific indicator than the VLAS for predicting left side heart enlargement in small breed dogs. Therefore, the m-VLAS can be used as a clinically useful radiographic measurement alternative to or better than the VLAS.

• Journal of Biomedical and Translational Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.79-85
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• 2018

Echocardiography is one of the most useful diagnostic techniques for differentiating heart disease as well as mitral valve lesion. Forty client-owned small breed dogs (weight, 2.3-13.2 kg) aged between 8-17 years with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD) were included in the present study. The diagnosis of MMVD in dogs was made based on the clinical signs, chest radiography data, and echocardiographic findings. Echocardiographic examinations were conducted in accordance with recommended standards for dogs. M-mode, Doppler, and 2D echocardiography were performed in left and right lateral recumbency. 2D echocardiography was used to measure LA and Ao diameter from 2D short axis at the level of the aortic valve. In the comparison of conventional echocardiography indices in dogs with different stages of heart failure with MMVD, significant differences were observed in E/A ratio (p=0.005), EDV (p<0.001), EDVI (p<0.001), E-peak velocity (p= 0.001), ESV (p=0.028), ESVI (p=0.004), LA (p<0.001), LA/Ao Ratio (p<0.001), LVIDd (p<0.001), LVIDd/Ao Ratio (p<0.001), LVIDs (p=0.036), LVIDs/Ao Ratio (p=0.002), and MR Velocity (p=0.026). In addition, distinct correlations were found in EDV (r=0.712), LA/Ao ration (r=0.830), LVIDd (r=0.724), and LVIDd/Ao ratio (r=0.759). This study found that known conventional echocardiographic indices, including EDV, LA/Ao ratio, LVIDd dimension, and LVIDd/Ao ratio correlated with the severity of MMVD in point of significant differences and distinct correlations.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.263-264
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• 2013

A 6 year-old, spayed female, Maltese dog was presented with precordial thrill and mild coughing. Thoracic auscultation revealed a grade V/VI systolic murmur with maximal intensity over the left apex characterized by musical murmur. Echocardiography revealed mild myxomatous degeneration of mitral valve and ruptured chordae tendineae. Musical murmur was produced due to the vibration of ruptured piece of chordae tendineae along with regurgitant flow. After treatment with furosemide and ramipril, clinical signs resolved and precordial thrill reduced. This case report describes typical clinical signs and phonocardiogram of musical murmur in a dog with acute chordae tendineae rupture.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.401-409
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• 2004

Background: As the rupture of chordae and/or papillary muscle became the main cause of mitral valve regurgitation, mitral reconstructive surgery has a very important role. In this regard, we analyzed the clinical result and postoperative early result of operative treatment performed in our hospital, Material and Method: For this analysis, forty nine patients (male 26, female 23, mean age 49.0$\pm$16.5) who underwent mitral valve operation caused by the rupture of chordae and/or papillary muscle from August 1991 to April 2002 were reviewed. Among forty nine patients, twenty two (44.9%) received mital valve reconstruction and twenty seven (59.2%) received mitral valve replacement. Result: As to the pathological etiology of rupture of mitral and papillary muscle, twenty five cases (51.0%) were nonspecific degeneration, eleven cases (22.4%) were myxomatous degeneration, seven cases (14.3%) were subacute bacterial endocarditis. Three patients suffered mortality after operation (6.1%) and valve replacement was performed again on one patient because of remnant mitral insufficiency after valve reconstruction. The 5-year survival rate after operation for the entire mitral valve regurgitation patients was 81 .4%. We have also compared and analyzed the operation results of a group of patients who underwent valve reconstruction and the other group of patients who underwent valve replacement from thirty six patients who had suffered from mitral valve regurgitation caused by degenerative disease. The mortalities were 0% and 14.3%, respectively and the 5-year survival rates were 90.2% and 64.3%, respectively, but there were no statistical significance. Conclusion: The most common pathological etiology of mitral valve regurgitation caused by rupture of chordae and/or papillary muscle was nonspecific degeneration, In case of degenerative disease is the cause of mitral valve regurgitation, valve reconstruction showed better long-term effects in many respects and better operation results compared to valve replacement.