Vertebral heart scale in cats - Dr Buchanan's technique for cats is essentially the same as for dogs. The goal being to measure the short and long axes of the heart and compare the dimensions to that animal's thoracic vertebral bodies. Cat hearts are at a more acute angle compared to dogs and therefore it is important to consider the axis goals when measuring. Once measured, the dimensions are then compared to the thoracic vertebral bodies starting at the cranial margin of the 4^th thoracic vertebral body. The normal in cats is 7.5 +/- 0.3. Obese cats are more difficult to assess although sometimes the pericardial and retrosternal fat will present a double silhouette around the heart allowing definition between the true heart and the overall cardiac shadow.

Metoprolol Therapy - Beta blockers are a controversial therapy in veterinary medicine. Although generally accepted to be highly beneficial for treatment of supraventricular tachycardia and in some types of ventricular tachycardia, recent human studies have shown the positive effects of beta-blockers in other types of cardiac disease. The positive effects in these trials are not demonstrated until after several months of therapy. Also, beta-blockers are not indicated for anyone (animal or human) in acute congestive failure or that is not currently stable on their cardiac medications. Metoprolol is a beta 1 specific beta-blocker that may be useful for its anti-sympathetic activity in canine patients with cardiomyopathy or advanced valve disease. Retrospective data from Tufts showed 10% of dogs that were started on the drug developed syncope shortly after therapy was initiated.  2% developed congestive heart failure. The drug was not used for dogs in fulminant or Class 4 failure. Our current recommendations for use of this drug are as an adjunct to standard therapy when improved rate control is desired, the animal is also currently stable on their medications, and our subjective assessment of the likelihood of adverse side effects is low.

Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Newfoundlands and Wolfhounds
Newfoundlands develop familial DCM. The disease is slowly progressive and the average age at death in affected dogs is 9 years. This implies the current state of the disease in that breed is not entirely devastating as the lifespan in many normal Newfoundlands is similar. Echocardiographic changes that predict developing cardiomyopathy are an increase in the LVIDd and a decrease in the systolic function indices. The normal left ventricular internal dimension in diastole in Newfoundlands is <5 cm in females and <5.5 cm in males. The genetics behind the disease suggest an autosomal dominant pattern with incomplete or reduced penetrance. This pattern is similar to many of the familial cardiac diseases in other breeds.
Dilated cardiomyopathy in Irish Wolfhounds is extremely common and may very well be a devastating disease. The incidence in a large European population suggests a preva

lence rate of 27%. The average age of onset is 1-5 years and the disease is also slowly progressive. The unique clinical finding in these dogs is that the majority develops a chylous pleural effusion. Radiographically, DCM in Wolfhounds can be difficult to diagnose.  90% of affected dogs had atrial fibrillation. Therefore, the majority of these dogs is markedly tachycardic and as such spends much of the time in systole. The appearance of the cardiac silhouette in systole is greatly reduced compared to the normal - where the majority of the time is spent in diastole. Analysis of the radiographs therefore gives the false impression of a normal cardiac silhouette. Survival times for Wolfhounds were poor. The average survival from the time of marked congestive failure was 4 months. The more mildly affected dogs survived an average of 1 year and the occult cardiomyopathy dogs lived 1.5 years. 

Cardiology Abstract Notes
1) Familial Ventricular arrhythmia in Boxers - A prospective trial was performed evaluating the efficacy of Procainamide Vs Atenolol Vs Sotalol to decrease the number and severity of VPC's revealed using 24 hour Holter monitoring in affected Boxer dogs. Sotalol proved the most beneficial.   No data was collected regarding changes in survival or incidence of sudden death.
2) Ambulatory ECG in Healthy dogs - A normal variation for healthy dogs can be the presence of infrequent VPC's during a 24 hour ambulatory ECG. This was useful data to confirm the same previously held clinical impression.

3. Thoracoscopic pericardectomy - Shown to be a valid option via both an abstract and presentation. The survival times for dogs with recurrent pericardial effusion are good and the complications rates are low in the hands of an experienced operator.