CONQUERING MITRAL VALVE DISEASE

摘要

Mitral valve disease (MVD) is the most common heart disease of dogs, and yet, many practitioners find the diagnosis, staging, treatment, and monitoring of the disease frustrating. This doesn't have to be the case. By understanding the type of data that can be gathered and the conclusions that can be drawn from the physical exam and chest radiographs, practitioners can employ a relatively standardized diagnostic and treatment plan. Diagnosis of MVD is made based on the detection of a left apical murmur in an older small-breed dog. In general, the louder the murmur, the worse the severity of mitral regurgitation; however, there is a great deal of individual variation, especially in dogs with relatively loud (Grade ffl-rV/VT) murmurs. In many instances, dogs with relatively loud murmurs have mild disease; the intensity of the murmur is a function of the orientation of the regurgitant jet pointed toward the lateral body wall more so than the absolute volume of regurgitation. Thus, "false positives" canoccur in dogs with relatively loud murmurs, and treatment decisions should not be made solely on the basis of murmur intensity.