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The boys echocardiogram results are in...; Anyone know how to interpret them??
Topic Started: 6 Feb 2013, 13:38 (548 Views)
Rayemond
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The vet phoned me and said their hearts are fine, Ace's is good and George's is borderline. I asked what that meant, he said it's at the top end of normal but still normal, and since he's 10 if he were going to get Dilated Cardiomyopathy he would have already got it before now. :what: So at my insistence he printed me off the results - they mean nothing to me, though, does anyone know how to interpret them? Or know of a link that will show me?

Here they are:

George

IVSd - 10.7
IVSs - 11.7
LVDd - 45.6
LVDs - 33.8
PWd - 11.8
PWs - 16.9
FS - 26%
EPSS - 1.8
LA - 26.4
Ao - 25
Ratio - 1.05

All flows are normal

Ace

IVSd - 9.5
IVSs - 14.1
LVDd - 36.1
LVDs - 26
PWd - 11.9
PWs - 14.4
FS - 28%
EPSS
LA - 32.2
Ao - 30.4
Ratio - 1.06

All flows normal.
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Nikirooshka
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Rayemond
6 Feb 2013, 13:38
The vet phoned me and said their hearts are fine, Ace's is good and George's is borderline. I asked what that meant, he said it's at the top end of normal but still normal, and since he's 10 if he were going to get Dilated Cardiomyopathy he would have already got it before now.


Good grief :rolleyes: Dobes can get it at any time, yes it's more likely between 6 and 10 years and more likely in boys but they can develop it at any age.

Have to say though I am clueless with the numbers :laugh: I know what I'm looking at on an echo screen but not the actual data. I'd want a specialists' take on them if the vets can't be any more precise - they have been very vague and it's just not helpful. You don't get 'borderline' DCM - you get equivocal (not developed enough to officially diagnose), occult (diagnosable but not yet showing symptoms) and heart failure. So possibly he's equivocal, if they mean that his heart measurements are the top end of normal but I'm guessing :unsure:

I'll drop an email to Soli's cardiologist and ask if she could take a look for you, not sure if she can do that without a proper referral but it can't hurt to ask :)
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Nikirooshka
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I've emailed Jo, she's out of the office till the 8th though. But I'll let you know what she says :)
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Rayemond
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Thanks, that's very good of you :)

Okay, after much googling I think I understand a little more now:

George

Units are mm

IVSd - 10.7 - interventrical septum diastolic
IVSs - 11.7 - interventrical septum systolic
LVDd - 45.6 - left ventricular diastolic dimension - more than 46 indicates occult DC
LVDs - 33.8 - left ventricular systolic dimension - more than 38 indicates occult DC
PWd - 11.8 - posterior wall thickness, diastolic
PWs - 16.9 posterior wall thickness systolic
FS - 26% - fractional shortening - how much left ventricle contracts - less than 25% indicates occult DC
EPSS - 1.8 - Mitral valve E point-septal separation (over 0.8 indicates dilated cardiomyopathy)
LA - 26.4
Ao - 25 - aorta dimension
Ratio - 1.05 - ratio between LA and Ao

That's what I've managed to figure out so far. I can't find out what a wide EPSS means when the rest of the heart is okay :what:

So it would appear that the vet meant that George's values are in the normal range, but quite close to the occult DCM range. I wish he'd just told me that, it's taken me ages of trawling through scholarly articles to figure that out for myself :rolleyes:

But this means that George certainly shouldn't be showing symptoms of DCM such as wheezing and coughing - he definitely does't have CHF :happy:
So back to the drawing board! :dunno: The vet said his chest sounds clear, but said I can have a chest x-ray done if I want. I'd rather not. I think blood tests would be a better next step.
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