Vetgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In this VETgirl podcast, we review patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and the long-term outcome. Should you be recommending your puppies for PDA closure? PDA is a congenital cardiac anomaly that allows for left-to-right shunting of blood from the descending aorta to the main pulmonary artery (in most cases). This results in volume overload to the left sided cardiac chambers, and ultimately, congestive heart failure, if left untreated. Left sided cardiac dimensions are usually significantly reduced following PDA closure and outcome is generally considered good in dogs but published data on long-term outcome is limited and factors affecting this outcome have not been well investigated. So what's the outcome? Before my client spends a few thousand for a coil, is it worth it? So, Saunders et al out of Texas A&M wanted to evaluate the long-term outcome, and the factors affecting this outcome, in a large group of dogs with PDA. In this study, they retrospectively evaluated 520 dogs (with the majority of them -