About The Webinar
This webinar will last around 45 minutes and will guide vets through the steps needed to manage dogs with mitral valve disease through the asymptomatic and symptomatic periods of the disease.
MVD is classified as stages A-D by the ACVIM
Stage A requires knowing which breeds are affected and at this stage owners need appropriate advice about what the future could hold.
Stage B1 and B2 dogs have a murmur of mitral regurgitation – we will discuss how best to identify key points of the physical exam. But ultimately B2 dogs with cardiomegaly can’t be distinguished from B1 dogs without imaging – for which echocardiography is immensely superior to radiography. It is the accurate identification of cardiomegaly that determines that B2 has been reached and indicate that treatment with pimobendan should be started.
The next stage is identifying the transition from stage B2 to stage C – i.e. the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF). This can rely on sleeping respiratory rate (SRR), can be helped by some findings on physical exam but may require documentation of the presence of pulmonary oedema on radiography. We will discuss how best to do this; it’s a skill which isn’t easy.
Managing stage C cases can rely on balancing changes such as heart rate from PE or even Holter ECGs, and also blood results indicating azotaemia with radiographs and SRR to indicate the control of CHF.
Stage D is identified by animals becoming refractory to treatment and this is based on physical exam and history. However, in these patients, blood tests, radiographs, echo and sometimes ECGs can further help us refine treatment so that the animal can maintain an adequate quality of life.
