HVVMS In-Person CE Event: Canine Heart Disease: Diagnosis and Management

Presented by: Brian A Scansen, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Cardiology)

Dogs can be affected by various forms of heart disease, many of which are difficult to detect and tend to progress, even with treatment. This program covers how to screen for heart disease during annual exams. It also reviews heart disease classification and staging, current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies based on type and stage of heart disease, and the need for additional diagnostics based on clinical situation. In addition, the connection between grain-free diets and diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy will be examined, as will the benefits of home therapy and monitoring for heart disease patients.

Learning Objectives:

1. Review the forms of heart disease in dogs, including valve disease, myocardial disease, cardiac neoplasia, pericardial disease, congenital disease, and electrical disease.
2. Examine signalment, clinical signs, and damage caused by these diseases, as well as disease states that can cause secondary cardiac changes leading to heart disease.
3. Learn how vertebral heart score and radiographic interpretation can aid in the assessment of heart disease.
4. Review the EPIC trial, which evaluated whether pimobendan therapy could delay the onset of congestive heart failure in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.
5. Understand heart disease staging and recommendations for diagnosis and treatment based on stage.