|
|
||||||||
Case Report |
From the Department of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan.
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Normal AV valves have two separate rings that lie at different levels in the heart. By contrast, in AV defects, a common AV orifice with a common fibrous ring and a five-leaflet valve are present.6 This abnormal development also results in the mitral valve being displaced ventrally in the ventricle and the aortic valve being displaced dorsally. With AV septal defects, the longer left ventricular outflow tract is often observed as a "goose-neck sign" during angiography.7
A partial AV septal defect is defined as a combination of an ostium primum atrial septal defect (ASD) and AV valvular malformation, in which the tricuspid valve and the mitral valve are located at the same level as the ventricular septum.1,8,9 The purpose of this paper is to report on the diagnosis and management of this rare congenital heart disease.
| Case Report |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Electrocardiography revealed a sinus rhythm, deep S waves (1.2 mV in lead II), increased P wave width (0.06 seconds in lead II), and wide QRS complexes (0.04 seconds in lead II). The mean electrical axis was -30°. Phonocardiography demonstrated both systolic and diastolic regurgitant murmurs. The systolic murmur was loudest on the left side at the apex, and the diastolic murmur was loudest on the right side at the apex. Thoracic radiography showed moderate cardiomegaly involving both the right and left sides. The vertebral scale heart size was 13.7 (reference range 9.7±0.5).10,11 The presence of prominent pulmonary vessels suggested pulmonary overcirculation.
Two-dimensional echocardiography revealed left atrial and left ventricle enlargement (end-diastolic diameter was 19.5 mm), an ASD at the lower portion of the atrial septum, and a ventricular septal defect (VSD) at the upper portion of the ventricular septum [Figure 1
]. Left and right ventricular valves were separated and located at the same level as the crest of the ventricular septum [Figure 2
]. Color-flow Doppler echocardiography indicated left-to-right blood flow across both the ASD and VSD as well as mitral valve regurgitation [Figure 3
]. Further echocardiographic evaluation revealed a cleft in the septal cusp of the mitral valve [Figure 4
], and that the length of the mitral septal cusp was shorter than normal.
|
|
|
|
Four months after the first examination and when the dog was 6 months old (7.1 kg), the vertebral scale heart size on the dorsoventral thoracic radiograph was 14.5, which was markedly increased compared to the initial vertebral scale heart size of 13.7. An echocardiogram showed that the left ventricular fractional shortening was 34.1% (reference range 35% to 57%) and the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was 51.9 mm (reference range 16 to 28 mm). Cardiac catheterization and angiography were subsequently performed.
The dog was premedicated with atropine and acepromazine. Anesthesia was induced with ketamine hydrochloride and maintained with isoflurane in 100% oxygen. Manometricb and oximetryc recordings were made, and results are shown in the Table
. Higher oxygen saturation in the pulmonary artery than in the right ventricle suggested a left-to-right shunt through the VSD. Lower oxygen saturation in the right atrium than in the vena cava and higher oxygen saturation in the right atrium than in the right ventricle suggested a slight left-to-right shunt through the ASD. Pressure measurements were always higher in the left chambers when compared to the right chamber, further suggesting that a right-to-left shunt did not exist.
|
|
When the dog was 7 months old (7.4 kg), open-heart surgery was conducted under cardiopulmonary bypass using an artificial heart-lung machine.d,1416 The dog was premedicated with atropine sulfate, butorphanol tartrate, and ace-promazine maleate. Anesthesia was induced with ketamine hydrochloride and maintained with isoflurane in 100% oxygen. Intraoperative pain control was achieved through periodic administration of butorphanol tartrate. Intermittent, positive-pressure ventilation was maintained throughout the procedure except during the cardiopulmonary bypass. Electrocardiography, arterial blood pressure, arterial blood gases, central venous pressure (CVP),e end-tidal carbon dioxide (CO2), arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2),f esophageal and rectal temperatures, urinary output, serum electrolyte concentrations, packed cell volume (PCV), and total protein concentrations were monitored continuously during surgery. Ampicilling (50 mg/kg intravenously [IV]) and dexamethasone sodium phosphateh (1 mg/kg IV) were administered preoperatively. Heparini was given (100 U/kg IV) and added to the priming solution for the cardiopulmonary bypass machine in order to achieve an activated clotting time of >480 seconds.14,17
The cardiopulmonary bypass circuit consisted of a reservoir, roller pump, membrane oxygenator, and circulating heater/cooler water bath. The bypass circuit was primed with a balanced crystalloid solution. Additives to the crystalloid priming solution included mannitolj (0.5 g/kg), sodium bicarbonatek (1.4 g/L of priming solution), and heparin (1,400 U/L of priming solution).17
A catheterl was placed into the jugular vein to provide central venous access and to monitor CVP. An arterial catheterm was placed into the right femoral artery to monitor direct arterial pressure and arterial blood gases, and an additional arterial cannulan was inserted into the left femoral artery. A right fourth intercostal thoracotomy was performed. The pericardium was opened dorsal to the phrenic nerve and sutured to the skin, making a pericardial basket. Two venous cannulaso were inserted through pre-placed purse-string sutures of 4-0 nylon into the cranial and caudal vena cavae, and they were connected to venous lines of the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. A cannulap was inserted in the same fashion into the coronary sinus as a retrograde cardioplegic root.18
Blood in the operative field was recovered using a vent pump and was returned into the reservoir via a suction line. Perfusion flow was 1.6 to 2.1 L per minute per m2 [38 to 48 mL per minute per lb]. The core body temperature of the dog was cooled to 26°C during bypass. The aorta was cross-clamped with vascular forceps, and total perfusion was achieved. The heart was arrested with a 40-mL injection of Youngs solutionq at 4°C delivered into the coronary sinus root. Thereafter, 100 mL of cardioplegic solution (i.e., GIK solutionr) at 4°C was administered at 10-minute intervals. Additional protection was accomplished by surface cooling of the heart with an iced saline slush.
An incision was made in the right atrium, and an ASD (25 x 15 mm in diameter) was identified in the lower portion of the atrial septum immediately above the ventricular septum [Figure 6A
]. The mitral valve was seen through the ASD, and there was a cleft in the septal cusp [Figure 6A
]. The cleft separated the septal cusps into two portions, both of which had thick edges. The cleft was repaired with mattress sutures of 5-0 polypropylenes [Figures 6B
, 7
]. The ASD was then closed with sutures of 5-0 polypropylene using pledgetst [Figures 6C, 6D
, 8
]. A small VSD (5 mm in diameter) was observed behind the septal cusp of the tricuspid valve [Figure 6E
]. The VSD was closed with simple mattress sutures of 5-0 polypropylene [Figure 6F
]. The right atrium was sutured closed with a simple continuous pattern of 5-0 polypropylene.
|
|
|
The pericardium was closed with simple interrupted sutures. Two drainage tubes were placed on each side of the thorax, and the thoracotomy incision was closed routinely. The femoral arteries were sutured with 6-0 polypropylene. Recovery from anesthesia was uncomplicated.
About 4 hours after surgery, the dog developed ventricular premature contractions that were treated with lidocaine (1 to 2 mg/kg IV), given as needed for 2 days. Postoperative pain management was accomplished by administration of butorphanol tartratex (0.05 to 0.1 mg/kg q 2 to 3 hours IV). Ampicillin (50 mg/kg q 8 hours IV) was administered for 8 days after surgery. Thoracic drainage tubes were removed 4 days after surgery. The dog began to eat 2 days postoperatively, recovered without serious complications, and was discharged 9 days after surgery. At the time of discharge, enalaprily (0.35 mg/kg per day per os) was initiated instead of digoxin.
Thoracic radiography and echocardiography were repeated 1 month after surgery. The heart size was reduced, and the pulmonary vessels were less remarkable than before surgery. The vertebral scale heart size was reduced to 11.3 (from 14.5). Doppler echocardiography revealed no blood flow through the prior sites of the ASD and VSD, a reduction in the volume of mitral regurgitation, and no evidence of tricuspid regurgitation. Two months after surgery, a grade II/VI systolic murmur was heard over the left apex. On two-dimensional echocardiography, the ASD and VSD remained closed, and the cleft of the mitral valve was not detected. On Doppler echocardiography, there was no blood flow through either the atrial or ventricular septum, but mild mitral insufficiency persisted. On two-dimensional echocardiography, left ventricular fractional shortening and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter were reduced to 27.8% (from 34.1%) and 46 mm (from 51.9 mm), respectively. The dog was still alive 1 year after surgery and was clinically normal.
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Recently, there have been a few published reports of a complete AV defect without ASD and a partial AV defect with VSD in humans.8 There has been marked variation in the morphology of the septal defect itself. This variation depends upon the arrangement of the bridging leaflets and their relationship to the atrial and ventricular septal structures. The present case is a rare form of a partial AV defect with VSD in a dog. In people, either with complete or partial forms, the response to pharmacotherapy is not favorable, and surgical correction is considered to be the only effective treatment.20
In the dog of this report, a partial AV defect with VSD was diagnosed by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. On echocardiography, morphological abnormalities were observed, namely ostium primum ASD, inlet portion of VSD, and AV valvular malformation. On cardiac catheterization, not only were the morphological abnormalities identified, but also detailed pathophysiological evaluations were acquired from local pressure measurements and blood gas analyses. In systole, mitral regurgitation resulted in regurgitation from the left ventricle into the left atrium and partially into the right atrium through the ASD. At the same time, the ASD allowed blood flow from the left atrium into the right atrium, and the VSD allowed blood flow from the left ventricle into the right ventricle. If this hemodynamic condition were left untreated, the left-to-right shunting through the ASD and VSD would have resulted in atrial and ventricular volume overload on both sides of the heart. Typically, continuous volume overload on the left side of the heart causes pulmonary hypertension and/or results in heart failure. Surgery was performed to prevent this from occurring. The dog was not a high risk for surgery, because it had not yet developed Eisenmengers syndrome (i.e., pulmonary hypertension causing right-to-left shunting of blood through the ASD and/or VSD).
Open-heart correction of AV defects in dogs has been described previously.21,22 Reports on the surgical treatment of AV defects in dogs are much rarer than reports in humans.7,23 In one canine report, the dog died 32 hours after surgery from encephalopathy resulting from hypotension during cross-circulation cardiopulmonary bypass.21 In another report, two dogs lived long-term after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, in which a pericardial patch was placed over the ASD and a commissuroplasty was used to repair the mitral valve.22 One of the two dogs was still clinically normal 42 months after surgery, and the other had mild exercise intolerance 15 months after surgery.22 Blood flow through the septal defect disappeared 5 and 3 months after surgery, respectively.21 Moderate to severe mitral insufficiency was detected in both dogs. Based on these results, management of mitral valve defects was considered quite difficult.
Several techniques of mitral valve repair have been reported in people.7 Usually patch suturing (prosthetic patch or pericardial patch) of the cleft and mitral valve replacement are performed.20,24 Patch suturing is relatively easy to perform, but the septal cusp is usually so thickened and rolled that coaptation is not always achieved.20 In comparison, mitral valve replacement provides a more efficient valve, although it involves various complications, including prosthetic valvular incompetence, thromboembolism, hemolysis, infectious endocarditis, and adverse effects from the anticoagulants used postoperatively.25 In comparing these two techniques, mitral valve replacement is considered to be more advantageous in humans with AV defects.20 Very few mitral valve replacements have been reported in dogs, however.26,27 In the present case, a commissuroplasty of the mitral valve was performed with mattress sutures and without a patch. Although mitral regurgitation persisted, the intensity of the cardiac murmur became milder (from a grade III/VI to II/VI), and a subsequent Doppler echocardiogram showed reduction in the mitral regurgitation.
| Conclusion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
b DynaScope; Fukuda Denshi, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
c Blood Gas System; Techno Medica, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
d NAPS-III; Senko Ika, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
e Hakko disposable central venous pressure monitor set; Hakko, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
f Capnox; Nippon Colin, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
g Ampicillin Na "Mitaka"; Mitaka Pharmaceutical, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
h Decadron Injection; Banyu Pharmaceutical, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
i Heparin Sodium Injection; Ajinomoto Pharma, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
j Mannitol Injection "Nikken"; Nikken Chemicals, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
k Meylon; Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
l 8-fr Atom multipurpose tube; Atom Medical, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
m Homemade by authors laboratory, Toyko, Japan ![]()
n Pediatric aortic arch cannula PED-025-SB; Research Medical, Inc., Midvale, UT 84047 ![]()
o Thinflex single venous return cannula TF-018-L; Research Medical, Inc., Midvale, UT 84047 ![]()
p 12-fr Atom multipurpose tube; Atom Medical, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
q Youngs solution (induction cardioplegic solution): potassium citrate 0.81 g, magnesium sulfate 2.46 g, total 100 mL with distilled water ![]()
r GIK solution (maintenance cardioplegic solution): 5% glucose 500 mL, 7% sodium bicarbonate 11 mL, 20% mannitol 5 mL, potassium chloride 10 mEq, regular insulin 10 IU ![]()
s Prolene; Ethicon, Inc., Summerset, NJ 08876-0151 ![]()
t Crownjun Pledget, 0.5-mm medium size; Kono Seisaku-sho, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
u Cardiopac 3M33; NEC, Tokyo, Japan ![]()
v Dominin Injection; Nipponshinyaku, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
w Xylocaine 2% for intravenous injection; AstraZeneca, Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
x Stadol Injection; Bristol-Myers K.K., Inc., Tokyo, Japan ![]()
y Enacard; Dainippon Pharmaceutical, Inc., Osaka, Japan ![]()
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |