Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Department of Surgery, Anaesthesiology and Radiology

Heart size determination is an efficient step in evaluating patients with heart diseases. Various diagnostic modalities have been used to evaluate cardiac size including thoracic radiography, echocardiography and electrocardiography. In the present study, 67 apparently healthy dogs were assigned to six groups of different ages, weights and sexes according to the breed. The thoracic radiographs were evaluated subjectively and objectively according to standardized methods. The echocardiographic measurements and the ECG parameters were recorded for each dog. The breed type had no influence on the subjective radiographic measurements except for the cardiac length to the thoracic depth ratio technique, while it had an influence on both objective measurements. The echocardiographic measurements revealed significant differences between the different breeds. The ECG values showed insignificant differences among all breeds. We concluded that objective measurements are more accurate than the subjective measurements in the evaluation of the cardiac size. Accurate heart size evaluation requires the integration of all diagnostic tools guided by breed specific values to reach an accurate diagnosis

Issued also as CD