Abstract
The primary objective of the present study was to compare vertebral heart size (VHS) to echocardiographic parameters which were used to monitor the degree of cardiomegaly and cardiac function, to see if there are relationships between them. Medical records of 34 dogs with mitral regurgitation (MR) were reviewed. Used as control were 18 beagles without cardiac diseases. VHS was measured in the right lateral radiographic views of dogs with or without MR There were significant positive relationships to echocardiographic parameters as follow; the end-systolic left atrial to end-diastolic aortic root ratio (LA/AO; r=0.696, p=0.0014), peak E-wave velocity, peak A-wave velocity, cardiac index (CI), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEdV/BSA), stroke volume index (SVI) and heart rate, respectively. On the single regression line, the ranges of VHS which corresponded to the ranges of LA/AO, peak E velocity, peak A velocity, CI, LVEdV/BSA, SVI and heart rate in dogs without MR were 9.8-10.7, 9.8-11.2, 9.3-10.7, 9.2-10.8, 9.2-11.7, 8.5-11.5 and 7.8-12.4, respectively. It is suggested that the value of VHS corresponded to a status of left sided volume overload in dogs with MR.
