Multiple congenital cardiovascular defects including type IV persistent truncus arteriosus in a Shetland pony – Short communication

Abstract

This case report describes the pathological findings of multiple congenital cardiac defects in a 2-year-old female Shetland pony with clinical signs of chronic respiratory distress. Persistent truncus arteriosus (PTA) type IV, interventricular septal defect, overriding aorta, pulmonary trunk agenesis, pulmonary arteries arising from the descending aorta, and compensatory right ventricular hypertrophy were observed.

Ascending aortic aneurysm associated with tetralogy of Fallot in an adult mare

“…Rarely, horses with CHD present in adult life. Only few reports exist that document complex CHD, such as TOF, in horses older than 1 year (Cargile et al., 1991; Gesell & Brandes, 2006; Taulescu et al., 2016). Interestingly, only one of these cases was older than 5 years and was presented with mild exercise intolerance for most of his life that drastically worsened with increasing age.…”

“…In some cases, the aortic tear forms a cuff of perivascular haemorrhage around the aorta and/or the pulmonary artery allowing for stabilization for several weeks (Decloedt, 2019; Ploeg et al., 2013). Accurate ante‐mortem diagnosis of this condition is challenging and literature suggests to include aortic rupture in the differential diagnosis when confronted with a Friesian horse with history of recurrent nongastrointestinal–related colic and one or more of the following: ventricular tachycardia, continuous right‐sided murmur, coughing, exercise intolerance, fever, epistaxis, sustained tachycardia and bounding arterial pulse (Decloedt, 2019; Marr et al., 1998; Ploeg et al., 2013; Reef et al., 2014; Taulescu et al., 2016). Although this case was not a breed predisposed to cardiac abnormalities such as Friesians, since admission a nongastrointestinal cause of tachycardia was suspected but few signs of cardiovascular disease were present on physical examination compared with the findings detected at cardiac ultrasound and necropsy.…”

“…aortic aneurysm, cardiac failure, congenital disease, Equine foals (Gesell & Brandes, 2006;Hall et al, 2010). Only three reports exist from adult horses (Cargile et al, 1991;Gesell & Brandes, 2006;Taulescu et al, 2016).…”

“…The condition has been reported in a large variety of breeds (Cargile et al., 1991; Scansen, 2019) but is most often described in neonatal foals (Gesell & Brandes, 2006; Hall et al., 2010). Only three reports exist from adult horses (Cargile et al., 1991; Gesell & Brandes, 2006; Taulescu et al., 2016).…”