Introduction

Uses

• Investigation of:
  • Cardiac murmurs Murmur: overview.
  • Exercise intolerance.
  • Arrhythmias Heart: dysrhythmia.
  • Cardiomegaly.
  • Collapse Collapse.
• Assessment of cardiac function Cardiac ultrasound video 01: introduction to performing an echo.
• Monitoring response to treatment/progression of known heart condition.
• Identification of:
  • Pericardial effusion.
  • Primary or metastatic neoplastic lesions.
• Routine assessment prior to doxorubicin Doxorubicin treatment.

Advantages

• Low cost.
• Non-invasive.
• Straightforward.
• Rarely requires sedation.
• No known biological risk.
  Time requirement will reduce with operator experience.

Disadvantages

• Usually requires patient's coat to be clipped.
• Normal sonographic appearance does not exclude disease.
• Abnormal sonographic appearance does not always indicate significant disease.
• Similar sonographic findings with different diseases.
• Must be familiar with normal anatomy before can reach meaningful clinical conclusions.

Potential problems

• Poor transducer-skin contact:
  • Inadequate clipping.
  • Insufficient coupling medium.
• Inadequate patient restraint.
• Operator inexperience.
• Lung may interfere with image quality.
• Inadequate equipment.

Alternatives

• Radiological cardiac evaluation Radiology: cardiac examination.
• ECG ECG: overview.

Equipment

Patient preparation

Technique: B-Mode

Technique: M-Mode

Abnormalities

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Boswood A & Lamb C (2005) Doppler ultrasound examination in dogs and cats. 3. Assessment of cardiac disease. In Practice 27 (6), 286-292 VetMedResource.
• Rishniw M (2001) Systolic aortic valve flutter in 6 dogs. Vet Radiology & Ultrasound 42 (5), 446-7 PubMed.

Other sources of information

• Martin M W S (1995) Small Animal Echocardiography. In: Veterinary Ultrasonography. Ed Goddard P J. CAB International, Cambridge, UK. pp 131-164.
• Kienle R D & Thomas W P (1995) Echocardiography. In: Veterinary Diagnostic Ultrasound. W B Saunders Company, Philadelphia. pp 198-255.