I happened upon the Cardiac Education Group website yesterday, and couldn’t wait to share it with the Big Hearts Fund community! The Cardiac Education Group are Veterinary Cardiologists who aim to bring greater knowledge of cardiology into regular veterinary practice. The site is geared toward veterinarians seeking to further their own understanding of canine cardiology, but even as a layperson I found the information useful and interesting.

Perhaps my favorite part was listening to the heartbeats and seeing the EKG rhythms of hearts with various problems. Lucy’s heart sounds most like the mitral valve regurgitation, although I have not been told she has an arrhythmia. The other difference is that in Lucy’s heart, regurgitation is caused by deformation of the tricuspid valve, not the mitral valve (see illustration).

I also found the following quote so hopeful, and right in line with what we experienced when Lucy was diagnosed with Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia. The vets in our regular office told us Lucy may go into congestive heart failure (CHF) within 6 months. It wasn’t until we saw veterinary cardiologist Dr. Michael Luethy that we gained more hope for her future.

“Myth: a diagnosis of heart failure is a death sentence.
One of the major differences between a cardiologist and a generalist may be how they view heart failure prognosis. Many generalists are less optimistic about the dog’s chances of survival, whereas cardiologists tend to view CHF as a chronic condition requiring long term management strategies. Of course, the prognosis depends on the severity of disease at diagnosis, but many cardiologists have CHF patients that they have been managing for years. Viewing CHF as a chronic health problem that requires occasional adjustments in medications when the condition worsens or when complications occur al- lows us to be realistic with owners about the goals of therapy. Although we are attempting to prolong the patient’s survival, the most important goal that we discuss with the owner is maintaining a good quality of life for their dog in CHF. Work- ing with the owners, our job is to do what we can medically to allow the animal to maintain its appetite and energy level and to continue to function and interact with the family. Improve- ments in our abilities to treat heart failure have allowed many patients to continue their happy home life for months to years after a diagnosis of heart failure.” (Here is the link to the article Common Misperceptions About Diagnosing Heart Failure on the Cardiac Education Group Website).

You can now find the Cardiac Education Group website listed in The Big Hearts Fund resource section.