One parameter that cannot be determined from the intensity of a heart murmur is the stage of heart disease or failure the animal is in. For instance, severe mitral insufficiency might not be associated with any murmur whatsoever, whereas a loud one might accompany an early case. This is because in the later stages, the valve might become so diseased and worn that it offers so little resistance to blood flow back through it that a murmur-causing disruption of blood flow might not arise.
Radiographs and/or ultrasonography of the chest are essential for establishing a diagnosis of heart disease. Animals with primary lung disease, including pneumonia, can exhibit clinical signs very similar to those seen in patients with heart failure, and these tests are needed to differentiate the two. Diseased hearts will appear abnormally enlarged on both tests. This enlargement can occur in compensation for the heart having to work harder to pump blood, or it could be due to a thinning and bulging of the heart wall resulting from constant bombardment with high-pressure streams of blood escaping through faulty heart valves. Regardless of the cause, an enlarged heart, combined with clinical signs or murmurs, signifies heart disease. If such a combination exists, the next test most practitioners will perform is an electrocardiogram.
The electrocardiogram (ECG; often phonetically pronounced EKG) is a test used widely to assess the condition of the heart. Remember that a heartbeat is produced when a wave of electrical energy moves through the tissues of the chambers, starting in the atria and moving down to the ventricles. This electrical wave then makes the muscle wall of these chambers contract, pumping out the blood contained within. The ECG helps evaluate the status of this electrical conduction system, and at the same time, can give the veterinarian useful information regarding the size of the heart itself, and indirectly, the condition of the heart as a pump. In addition, with the information gained from an ECG, proper drug treatment dosages can be more easily established.
Radiographs and/or ultrasonography of the chest are essential for establishing a diagnosis of heart disease. Animals with primary lung disease, including pneumonia, can exhibit clinical signs very similar to those seen in patients with heart failure, and these tests are needed to differentiate the two. Diseased hearts will appear abnormally enlarged on both tests. This enlargement can occur in compensation for the heart having to work harder to pump blood, or it could be due to a thinning and bulging of the heart wall resulting from constant bombardment with high-pressure streams of blood escaping through faulty heart valves. Regardless of the cause, an enlarged heart, combined with clinical signs or murmurs, signifies heart disease. If such a combination exists, the next test most practitioners will perform is an electrocardiogram.
The electrocardiogram (ECG; often phonetically pronounced EKG) is a test used widely to assess the condition of the heart. Remember that a heartbeat is produced when a wave of electrical energy moves through the tissues of the chambers, starting in the atria and moving down to the ventricles. This electrical wave then makes the muscle wall of these chambers contract, pumping out the blood contained within. The ECG helps evaluate the status of this electrical conduction system, and at the same time, can give the veterinarian useful information regarding the size of the heart itself, and indirectly, the condition of the heart as a pump. In addition, with the information gained from an ECG, proper drug treatment dosages can be more easily established.
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