Abdominal ultrasound measurement of caudal vena cava in dogs with dilated right heart

• Grant number: 11/02326-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2011
• End date: March 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Maria Jaqueline Mamprim de Arruda Monteiro
• Grantee: Talissa Bunemer
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of abdominal ultrasound examinations has very intense in the routine of small animals. The amount of information obtained is extremely valuable but there is no work describing the size of the abdominal vena cava and its relationship with right heart dilatation in dogs. Some authors describe these changes only to the diameter of this vessel in the chest. On the other hand literature provides information on the ratio of the diameter of the caudal vena cava (VCC), aorta and portal vein in healthy dogs. The purpose of this study is to obtain information about the value of VCC diameter by ultrasound in dogs with right heart dilatation demonstrated by radiograph. And then compare with normal values in the literature in order to assess whether these values, measured by ultrasound may be an early sign of heart disease before the radiographic examination.