The Animal Heartbeat

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose.Mitral valve disease is the most common heart disease diagnosed in dogs. Our understanding of it affects how we manage a wide range of scenarios, from asymptomatic heart murmurs detected at annual vaccination, to patients with respiratory signs or those about to undergo sedation or anaesthesia, or simply receive fluid therapy. Join Professor Michele Borgarelli, from the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, as he speaks to Kieran and Jose about an innovative dataset on over 6000 dogs with mitral valve disease, the LOOK-Mitral Registry, and how research like this can inform decision making in the clinic.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose.Vets understand that the cornerstone of treatment for congestive heart failure in animals is the use of loop diuretics, such as furosemide. But resistance occurs in all patients over time, and intensification of diuretic treatment is a vital part of managing patients with clinical signs - both for left- and right-sided manifestations of disease. How are we best to approach this, and what can we do when using diuretic drugs to make the best decisions that will have positive benefits for our patients? Join Jose and Kieran as they welcome Prof Mark Oyama, from the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss strategic use of diuretic drugs in the clinic and the most up to date research on how to judge diuretic efficacy in acute and chronic heart failure patients.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose.As veterinary cardiologists, we rely on ultrasound every day to assess cardiac structure and function. Whilst important for owners to understand the cause of a murmur or clinical signs, we use echo to make critical decisions about when and how to treat, and inform conversations with owners about prognosis. The impact of echo on the lives of our patients is greater than anything else we do. But it may not be as accurate as you think... Learn how to best use echocardiography to make decisions, and which echo measurements may be best to select for accuracy, by joining Jose and Kieran as they speak to Dr Lance Visser, Assistant Professor at Colorado State University, about his research work in veterinary echo and his advice on how best to use this fundamental tool.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose.Horses are highly evolved athletes, with mind-bending changes to the cardiovascular system achieved during exercise. How does the spectrum of heart disease compare to that seen in dogs and cats? Join our hosts, Jose and Kieran, as they enjoy a rapid-fire review of equine cardiac disorders with Prof Colin Schwarzwald, director of the Clinic of Equine Internal Medicine at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich.