title: Use of tissue Doppler imaging to confirm the diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy in a dog with equivocal echocardiographic findings.
abstract: A 1-year-old healthy female Great Dane was referred for an echocardiographic examination prior to anesthesia and surgical correction of prolapse of the right third eyelid gland. Findings of a physical examination were normal. Conventional 2-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography revealed equivocal findings of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Conversely, tissue Doppler imaging revealed a dramatic decrease in systolic and early diastolic radial myocardial velocity gradients, which were related to a decrease in endocardial velocities. Four months later, the diagnosis of DCM was confirmed via conventional echocardiography. In dogs with equivocal conventional echocardiographic findings of DCM, severe myocardial alterations may be detected via tissue Doppler imaging and this technique may enable early diagnosis of radial myocardial dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Cardiologie, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, 7 Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons-Alfort, France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chetboul
authors.forename: Carolina Carlos
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Sampedrano
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Testault
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pouchelon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000662:veterinary*; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003971:Diastole; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004285:Dogs; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D009541:Nictitating Membrane / Q000601:surgery