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CARDIOLOGY
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** Echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound):
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a state of the art ultrasound machine is used to gather information in various modes: 2-dimensional (2D), M-mode, continous (CW) and pulse wave (PW) Doppler, color flow Doppler and tissue velocity imaging (TVI).
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** Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG):
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10-lead ECG is used to assess the electrical activity of the heart for potential arrhythmias (dysrhythmias).
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** Holter Monitors:
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they are a 24-hour, ambulatory ECG that allow us to diagnose arrhythmias that are intermittent, or that only occur during specific activities, such as exercise. This lightweight device is attached to a harness and worn as an animal goes through its normal daily routine usually at home with you.
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** Event Monitors:
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similar to Holter monitors, but has to be activated to record an event when one is noted. We currently have two options for Event monitors: 1) small recorder that stays on up to 4 weeks in a vest, or until an event is recorded. 2) Small device is implanted under the skin and lasts up to 1 year. This allows the potential to assess heart rhythm at any time when recorded (activated) by a remote contoller. This is provided by the gracious people of Medtronic USA and is amazing technology working for your pet.
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** OFA Heart Certification:
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Purpose of Cardiac Database:
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To gather data regarding congenital heart diseases in dogs and to identify dogs which are phenotypically normal prior to use in a breeding program. For the purposes of the database, a phenotypically normal dog is defined as:
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One without a cardiac murmur -or-
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2.
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One with an innocent heart murmur that is found to be otherwise normal by virtue of an echocardiographic examination which includes Doppler echocardiography.
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You can read more about the process and importance at: http://www.offa.org/cardiacinfo.html.
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** Thoracic radiograph interpretation:
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performed by a boarded cardiologist
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** Therapeutic and diagnostic pericardiocentesis:
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(removal of fluid from the pericardial sac surrounding the heart), thoracocentesis (chest tap) and abdominocentesis (belly tap) performed by a board-certified cardiologist. Of course, biopsies and aspiration of masses is performed as needed in a case by case basis.
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