Description
Congenital heart disease in dogs is more common than might be appreciated and frequently may go undetected. Knowledge of the most common congenital heart defects, how to diagnose and manage them is crucial to provide the best care for our patients. Pulmonic stenosis (PS) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are two of the most common congenital heart defects in dogs for which therapeutical options are available. Balloon valvuloplasty is effective in resolving clinical signs in a large proportion of cases and results are better in valvular lesions (type A) in contrast to valve dysplasia with pulmonic annular hypoplasia (type B). PDA is unique among cardiac diseases since complete cure may actually be achieved in uncomplicated cases. For this to occur, occlusion must be performed as soon as possible. Several options exist for PDA occlusion. Surgical ligature has been and is still the most commonly used technique for this purpose with good results and low risks when performed by an experienced surgeon. In the last decade, minimally invasive techniques using several different occlusion devices have been developed and are used in many veterinary cardiology referral centers throughout the world nowadays. Relevant clinical information regarding PS and PDA will be discussed with emphasis on diagnosis, important selection criteria for therapeutic decisions (medical, interventional, surgical), what to expect from treatment and prognosis.
Pedro qualified from Porto University (Portugal) in 2005. From 2004 to 2006 he performed an internship and worked in the cardiology department of Clinica Veterinaria Gran Sasso in Milan (Italy). From 2006 to 2009 he worked in general practice and also performed referral cardiology services in Portugal. In 2009 he returned to Milan to enroll in a 3 year ECVIM-CA residency training program, specialty of cardiology, under the supervision of Claudio Bussadori, Dipl. ECVIM-Ca (Cardiology) and Oriol Domenech, Dipl. ECVIM-Ca (Cardiology) with the joint participation of the École Nationale Veterinaire de Lyon (Lyon, France) under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Luc Cadoré, Dipl. ECVIM-Ca (Internal Medicine). Since the beginning of 2011 he performs interventional cardiology services in Porto (Portugal) and Barcelona (Spain). Pedro has recently joined the Davies Veterinary Specialists Cardiology Service.