Sep 9, 2022

Balancing Care and Cost for Heartworm-Positive Patients

September 2022 In this VETgirl online veterinary continuing education blog sponsored by the American Heartworm Society, Dr. Angele Bice, DVM reviews how to balance the care and cost for heartworm-positive patients. Please note the opinions in this blog are the expressed opinion of the author and not directly endorsed by VETgirl. By Dr. Angele Bice,

Sep 5, 2022

Evaluation of pericardial catheter placement versus needle pericardiocentesis in the dog

In today’s VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we will be evaluating two methods of pericardiocentesis based off a study by Cook et al entitled Prospective evaluation of pericardial catheter placement versus needle pericardiocentesis in the management of canine pericardial effusion. Pericardial effusion in dogs is a condition we see with some degree of frequency in the ER. The urgency of this condition arises from the buildup of trapped fluid in the small sac surrounding the heart, located between the pericardial lining and the myocardium. Normally this space is so small that you can’t really see it on an emergency ultrasound scan without a cardiologist and a diagnostic ultrasound. When enough fluid builds up in the pericardial sac, this space becomes easier to see on emergency ultrasounds. But more importantly, as the fluid accumulates, the pressure in this trapped space compresses the heart chambers, preventing adequate filling of the heart, and results in less blood exiting the heart, and so less blood and oxygen is supplied to our vital organs. This condition is called cardiac tamponade and represents one of the causes of “obstructive shock.” Clinical signs that may clue us in to the presence of cardiac tamponade include Beck’s triad of: 1) low blood pressure 2) muffled heart sounds 3) and jugular venous distention, and often the patient is also tachycardic which is the body’s compensatory response to the lower cardiac filling volumes.

Veterinary insights you won’t delete. Delivered to your inbox weekly.

Sign up for the VETgirl Newsletter

[gravityform id=1 title=false description=false ajax=true]