Abstract
We investigated 469 cases of congenital heart diseases in malformed bovine hearts collected mainly in Miyazaki Prefecture from 1979 to 1997. A total of 893 diseases, subdivided into 53 types, were represented. Most frequently encountered was ventricular septal defect (198 cases; 42.2%).This was followed by atrial septal defect (148 cases; 31.6%), double-outlet right ventricle (66 cases; 14.1%), aortic stenosis (53 cases; 11.3%), double cranial venae cavae (50 cases; 10.7%), patent ductus arteriosus (45 cases; 9.6%), anomalos caudal vena cava with azygous continuation (42 cases; 9.0%), the tetralogy of Fallot (32 cases; 6.8%), hypoplastic left ventricle syndrome (25 cases; 6.8%), complete transposition of the great arteries (24 cases; 5.1%), and total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (21 cases; 4.5%). Simple cardiac defects were detected in 251 cases (53.5%) and complex cardiac in 218 cases (46.5%). This study demonstrates that in cattle as well as in human beings and cats, ventricular septal defect is encountered most frequently.
