Consequences of endocarditis in an adult cow with a ventricular septal defect

Abstract

The clinical and pathological findings in a nine-year-old cow with a pre-existing ventricular septal defect and clinical signs of an increased tendency of haemorrhage and lameness, developing into recumbency, are described. On clinical examination, primary and secondary haemostasis defects were evident, along with hindlimb lameness with no indication of an underlying musculoskeletal or neurological cause. There was pyrexia of unknown origin. Clinical haematology revealed a thrombocytopenia. Because of worsening of clinical signs, the cow was euthanased. On postmortem examination, a subaortal perimembranous ventricular septal defect with a prolapsed right aortic cusp and a vegetative endocarditis were found, along with histological evidence of systemic microthrombi. The bacteraemia associated with the endocarditis along with the microthrombi resulted most likely in disseminated intra vascular coagulopathy. The lameness is thought to have been due to arterial thromboembolism in the distal limb following the release of a microthrombus from the endocarditis lesion.

Mural Endocarditis and Embolic Pneumonia Due to Trueperella pyogenes in an Adult Cow with Ventricular Septal Defect

“…The authors of this report described a case of vegetative endocarditis involving an aortic cusp, the tricuspid valve, and the endocardial site of a subaortic perimembranous VSD, previously diagnosed. This cow also showed a disseminated intra vascular coagulopathy and lameness secondary to arterial thromboembolism [17]. In our case report, the VSD was localized in the subaortic region, but the vegetative endocarditis lesions extended in the right ventricle outflow tract.…”

“…To the authors' knowledge, endocarditis associated with a VSD in adult cows has been previously reported only in one case report [17]. The authors of this report described a case of vegetative endocarditis involving an aortic cusp, the tricuspid valve, and the endocardial site of a subaortic perimembranous VSD, previously diagnosed.…”

“…These electrocardiographic findings were suggestive of atrial fibrillation with high ventricular response rate (Figure 1). To the authors' knowledge, endocarditis with a VSD has been reported in cattle only in one case report, in which the CHD had been previously diagnosed [17]. The aim of this case report is to describe the clinical presentation and the electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and post-mortem findings in an adult cow affected by mural endocarditis with a small VSD that had not been previously diagnosed.…”