Cardiovascular Diseases In Dogs

EKG is an electrocardiogram, a machine used to check on problems with your electrical activity with your heart. An electrocardiogram machine translates the heart’s electrical pattern into lines that specific professionals can read it. The first EKG was made by Willem Einthoven, a Dutch Java island (now called Indonesia) born citizen. Willem was born the 21st day of May 1860. His father, Jacob Einthoven, was born and educated in Groningen (Netherlands). His father was also

A physical examination, specifically auscultation of the heart, as well as an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram are used to assess the heart fully. Upon physical

This method demonstrates impaired relaxation and filling because it delivers straight measurement of ventricular diastolic pressure. But, the balance of benefit, harm and cost can debate against its use to diagnose diastolic dysfunction. The other technique which can be used to diagnose diastolic heart failure is Doppler echocardiography. Doppler echocardiography is used to assess cardiac diastolic function, which can confirm the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure. For example, according to the online article, “Diastolic heart failure: challenges of diagnosis and treatment” states “echocardiographic measurement of tau, the time constant of left ventricular pressure decay during isovolunteric relaxation, can be performed to assess left ventricular stiffness.” Doppler echocardiography plays an important role to evaluate the characteristic of diastolic Trans-mitral-value- blood flow. Doppler echocardiography helps to measure the peak velocities of blood flow during early diastolic filling (E wave) and atrial contraction (A wave) and then ratio is calculated. When the heart is working normal, the early filling E-wave velocity is greater than the A-wave velocity and E to A wave ratio is 1.5. But, in diastolic dysfunction, this correlation reverses, because stiffness increases and the relaxation of heart occur slowly and E to A wave ratio decreases to 1.0. Also, as the diastolic

An electrocardiogram (ECG) shows the heart's activity and may reveal muscle thickening, damage, or a lack of oxygen. Electrodes covered with conducting jelly are placed on the patient's chest, arms, and legs. They send impulses of the heart's activity through a monitor (oscilloscope) to a recorder which traces them on paper. The test takes about 10 minutes and is commonly performed in a physician's office. An exercise ECG can reveal additional

cardiomyopathy of dogs. This disease is more common in middle aged, large breed dogs and

The diagnostic methods in heart failure are directed toward establishing the cause of the disorder and determining the extent of the dysfunction (Grossman & Porth, 2014). The methods used in the diagnosis of heart failure include risk factor assessment, history and physical examination, laboratory studies,

Blood tests, a physical examination and information about your medical history will be taken by your primary care physician. Diagnostic tests will be suggested if he/she has any concerns. One of the diagnostic tests that your physician may order is something called an electrocardiogram. Electrical signals are recorded in this electrocardiogram as they travel through your heart. Recommendations of Holter monitoring made be made in some cases. This ECG is when a portable monitor is worn twenty four hours. A previous heart attack or one that is happening can be revealed through an ECG. Another diagnostic test is called an echocardiogram. This test is when images of your heart are produced using sound waves. A stress test is another diagnostic test to look at your heart

John Erichsen in 1842 first discovered defibrillation and he found this through a dog whose heart went into fibrillation when its coronary artery was closed off (Boston Scientific, 2016). In Switzerland, 1899, Prevost and Battelli uncovered that in dogs, small electric shocks could prompt ventricular fibrillation and found that larger charges would reverse the condition (Hugo Delgado, 2013). In the 1920s devices called electrocardiograms were invented by Dr Carl J to measure the electrical activity of the heart and help identify the different stages of ventricular fibrillation (Boston Scientific, 2016). A new technique was discovered after that to overcome fibrillation in humans in 1930s by Claude Schaeffer Beck (Boston Scientific, 2016). The new technique would assist in treating heart failure in which piece of chest muscle was implanted into the sac that surrounds the heart (pericardium) but this technique is no longer used (Boston Scientific, 2016). A procedure called cardio pericardial pexy was also created by Claude Beck in 1935 in which a

The use of experimental animal models is imperative to advance our understandings of the disease pathophysiology and pharmacology. Small animal models are often used as experimental animal models for studying these human diseases including cardiovascular diseases. However, these animal models possess various problems to make the direct translational approach difficult. These factors include the small body size and their different cardiovascular physiology and kinetic. Large animal models including dogs, cats and pigs are also used for studying various diseases, but they still possess inherited physiological, biochemical and genetic differences from humans. Non-human primate model of cardiovascular diseases has great advantages for the translational

The first accurate recording using an electrocardiogram (ECG) occurred in 1895. Willem Einthoven was the first person to create an ECG that accurately depicted the recording of the heart’s electrical currents (Jenkins, 2011). Einthoven “was awarded the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine”(Nobelprize, 2014, p. 1) in 1924 for the discovery of the electrocardiogram (Nobelprize 2014). Not only did he configure the machine but he also created the deflections. They are the labels of the points on the wave created by the electrocardiogram, PQRST, are the letters at each point or curve on the wave . Einthoven was the sole founder of the ECG but without the help of previous scientist Einthoven would have never discovered the electrocardiogram

C. Link to Thesis: If there are abnormalities during the electrocardiogram, the ekg machine will report what abnormalities are detected

As stated as above, the electrocardiogram and echocardiography are both painless non-invasive procedures that assess the heart’s current condition. Both these tests are performed and interpreted by the physician himself. Neither one requires any prior preparation or consists of any possible risks for the individual. They each have its differences in technique and uses.

To discover the risk for VHD, a health care team will use echocardiography as the main source of testing. Echocardiography (EKG) uses sound waves to create a moving picture of a patient's heart as it beats. This invasive medical procedure can reveal the size and shape of the heart valves and chambers, blood pumping efficiency, and whether a valve is narrow or has backflow. Patients may require a transesophageal echo to develop an enhanced image of the heart.

Dogs are also susceptible to several natural diseases that are homologous to humans. They have the advantage of “a unique population history of around 9000 generations with a unique breed structure of more than 400 genetic isolates” (Karlsson and Lindblad-Toh, 2008)6 which sets them apart from many other species used for research. The canine cardiovascular system is similar to that in a human, both in size and function7, enabling identification and treatment of mechanisms associated with cardiac diseases8. Other than humans, dogs are the only mammals with an extensive genetic diversity, long life span and large size which have enabled development of hematopoietic cell transplantation9, an important medical advance for those suffering with diseases such as leukaemia and lymphoma10.

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important tool for providing information about functional status of the heart. Analysis of ECG is of great importance in the detection of cardiac abnormalities. The ECG is characterized by a recurrent wave sequence of P, QRS and T- wave associated with each beat. The QRS complex is the most striking waveform, caused by ventricular depolarization and atrial repolarization of the human