Cardiac Surgery Program For Dogs. –by Sarah Carey, M.A., A.P.R.
The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has launched an open heart surgery program for dogs, becom- ing the only fully functional program of its kind in the United States and the only one to offer the complex procedure known as mitral valve repair. The program is a collaboration between UF and
renowned veterinary cardiologist Masami Uechi, D.V.M., Ph.D., of the JASMINE Veterinary Cardiovascular Medical Center in Yokohama, Japan. Uechi visited UF in February at the college’s invitation
and gave a presentation on mitral valve repair. He regularly performs the procedure in Japan and has a success rate over 90 percent. “The plan is for Dr. Uechi to come with his team and
equipment for a week in the spring to perform the procedure initially on one dog, then to return two months later to do four more cases. From then on, he and his team plan to operate on six dogs every two months,” said Simon Swift, D.V.M., a clini- cal associate professor and chief of the cardiology service at UF’s Small Animal Hospital. “This will lead to a teaching and research collaboration between UF, the JASMINE Clinic and Azabu University.” As part of an agreement Uechi reached with UF, he and
his team would provide training in mitral valve repair surgery to UF cardiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, perfusionists, critical care specialists and other key staff with the ultimate goal of UF being able to operate and maintain the program independently. Mitral valve repair surgery treats a condition known as
degenerative mitral valve disease, or endocardiosis. This disease has a genetic component and is responsible for about 75 per- cent of all canine cardiac issues, Swift said. The disease causes a thickening of the heart valves, weakening them and allowing a backflow of blood into the left atrium from the left ventricle, causing the heart to dilate and increasing left atrial pressure. Although any dog breed can develop degenerative mitral
valve disease, small-breed dogs such as cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Dachshunds, Malteses, Poodles and Chihuahuas are most commonly affected. Older dogs are more likely to have the disease, but some breeds get this disease at a younger age. “Medication can slow the progression and we can treat
these dogs medically once they develop heart failure, but the average survival is only about nine months,” Swift said. “It’s a surgical disease, and it needs a surgical cure.” The cardiology service at UF consists of four board-certi-
fied cardiologists with three residents supported by two technicians. “In collaboration with cardiologists at UF Health Shands
Children’s Hospital, we have recently published details relating to the long-term follow up of stenting the right ventricular outflow tract in dogs with pulmonic stenosis, a congenital dis- ease in which this area is narrowed,” Swift said.
U
Sarah Carey, M.A., A.P.R., is the director of public relations at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.
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