Surgical Repair of Left Atrial Ruptures Caused by Mitral Regurgitation in a Dog

Abstract

We report here a case of successful surgical management of an 11-year-old spayed Maltese with a chief complaint of coughing associated with mitral regurgitation. The dog had been confirmed as having mitral insufficiency one month before, and received medical treatment. The presence of pericardiai effusion was indicated by thoracic radiography and two-dimensional echocardiography. The pericardial effusion was similar to peripheral blood. An emergency operation with thoracotomy revealed left atrial ruptures associated with mitral regurgitaion, since two ruptured sites were found on the left auricle. The ruptured sites were closed by purse string suturing with 6-0 polypropylene. The dog has been in good condition without further bleeding from the sutured sites for over a year after the surgical intervention.