Heart Murmur Questions

[krissn333]

My parents are bringing home two greyhounds this Saturday. One of them, Goody, is 6 years old and lived in a home for the past 3 years. Her family lost their home, so, she came to the kennel. She just had a dental today and was diagnosed with a grade 3 heart murmur.

 

How severe is this? Is there a treatment for it? My mom was told that they just need to be sure to keep her teeth clean...is that all? Do dogs take medication for something like this? Is there anything she should be kept from doing?

 

I can't seem to find much good information on the Internet for some reason, so I thought I'd ask here.

[joejoesmom]

Greyhounds often have a heart murmur. Depending on the type, it may be normal. Most "normal" greyhound murmurs are classed as a 1/6 or a 2/6 though, not as a level 3/6.

 

Greyhounds also have a larger heart than other breeds.

 

I would make sure your vet understands these differences in the greyhound breed. Without this understanding, he may come up with the wrong diagnosis.

 

Here is information from the Ohio State University Greyhound Health and Wellness Program:

 

Let's start from their heart size; in veterinary medicine, there is a non-invasive method where cardiac size can be easily, rapidly, and objectively determined. The method is called vertebral heart size (VHS). With this method, measurements of the heart from lateral chest films or thoracic radiographs are used in a simple formula to determine the total VHS, based in the published reference range for VHS in dogs, which is 8.5 to 10.6.

 

In clinical practice, a VHS above the reference range on lateral thoracic radiogaphs supports cardiomegaly (enlarged heart), which is frequently associated with cardiac pathology, such as dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, pericardial effusion, pericardioperitoneal diaphragmatic hernia, tricuspid dysplasia, ventricular septal defect, or patent ductus arteriosus, among others.

 

Last year we generated reference ranges for VHS in Greyhounds, and they are 9.9 to 11.1. This range confirms that healthy Greyhounds have bigger hearts than dogs of other breeds.

 

Since the large heart in Greyhounds occurs in both, trained and untrained dogs, and it does not regress after cessation of training, previous studies suggested that it is due to genetic factors and not acquired through exercise and training.

 

HEART SOUNDS

The heart sounds normally heard in healthy dogs are S1 (associated with closure tensing of the AV valves at the onset of systole) and S2 (associated with closure of the aortic and pulmonic valves at the end of the systole). In addition to these normal sounds, other sounds may be present, such as heart murmurs.

 

Heart murmurs (abnormal heart sounds) are not usually part of the normal cardiac physiology, however, sometimes they are not clinically significant.

 

The heart murmurs are described by their timing during the cardiac cycle as systolic (when the heart is emptying or diastolic (when the heart is filling). The intensity of a murmur is graded on a 1 to 6 scale, and its point of maximal intensity is located and described as apex (apical or lower part of the heart) or base (basilar or top portion of the heart).

 

In 2006 we made the observation that a grade 1-2/ 6 left basilar systolic murmur was ausculted in many Greyhound blood donors, without evidence of abnormalities on echocardiograms, sometimes the murmur is not heard by auscultation of the heart, but the finding of a bruit (a heart sound heard over a vessel), which is heard using a stethoscope in the carotid artery in the neck, confirm the presence of the murmur.

 

In our study, we found that the b1ood flow velocity in the aortic valve in the Greyhounds with murmurs was significantly higher than in the Greyhounds without murmurs. In conclusion, although a soft murmur is common in adult Greyhounds, it does not appear to be associated with a congenital defect (e.; it is normal in sight hounds) or any CBC differences unique to this breed.

 

Due to these peculiarities in the Greyhound, we frequently receive referrals or consults of Greyhounds suspected of having heart disease, when indeed these findings are normal breed-related idiosyncrasies. This should be taken into account to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary medication.

[MP_the4pack]

Pearl had a grade 3 murmur and I took her to a cardiologist. She had a full heart workup and did have heart disease. She was on meds the rest of her life but lived with heart disease for 7 yrs before cancer took her away from me this year. She was 5 when diagnosed.

The meds when bought from Costco were not expensive. And she was playing up until the day she was diagnosed with cancer at age 12. If she didn't get the big C, her cardiologist said she would probably have another 2 good years.

[Batmom]

I'd recommend an echocardiogram. Costs a bit but will save you in the long run and will tell you how her heart is working, whether she needs meds, etc.

[Guest Greyglo]

Pearl had a grade 3 murmur and I took her to a cardiologist. She had a full heart workup and did have heart disease.

 

Same here, with our Bunny.

 

I'd recommend an echocardiogram. Costs a bit but will save you in the long run and will tell you how her heart is working, whether she needs meds, etc.

 

Same here. Sending good wishes to this little girl -

[krissn333]

They *MAY* have done one yesterday while she was at the vet having her dental. I have a call in to the vet to talk to him about it.

 

Thanks for the OSU documentation - I'll print that out!

[Guest mcsheltie]

Be sure to keep her blood pressure monitored. Also a second opinion is always good. Heart murmur diagnosis is subjective. I have had cats with heart murmurs that some vets did not even hear and others that were graded high. But when taken to MSU for an ultrasound, were downgraded.