Self-Reported Management of Incidentally Detected Heart Murmurs in Puppies: A Survey among Veterinarians

Self-Reported Management of Incidentally Detected Heart Murmurs in Puppies: A Survey among Veterinarians

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Background: Heart murmurs in puppies can be innocent or pathologic; the latter is almost always related to a congenital heart disease.Differentiating between these murmurs can be challenging for practicing veterinarians, but this differentiation is essential to ensure the best prognosis for puppies having a congenital heart disease.Our study aimed to reveal how veterinarians manage puppies with a heart murmur.Methods: A web-based questionnaire was sent to Dutch and Belgian veterinary practices.

Results: Data from 452 respondents Show Saddles were analyzed.Though 88% of the respondents find detecting a heart murmur easy, only 9% find differentiating innocent murmurs from pathologic murmurs in puppies easy.Of the respondents, only 80% recommend immediate additional examination when detecting a loud heart murmur during the first veterinary health check at 6 weeks of age.Most of the respondents are aware that normal growth and the absence of clinical signs do not exclude severe congenital heart disease.

Of the respondents, 31% were uncertain whether Coconut Oils early surgical intervention could lead to improved outcomes.Conclusions: Veterinarians are aware of the importance of echocardiography for puppies with a loud heart murmur, and recognize their limitations when differentiating an innocent from a pathological heart murmur in a puppy.