Aneurysmal dilatation of the right auricle in two dogs

J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2005 May 1;226(9):1512-5, 1500. doi: 10.2460/javma.2005.226.1512.

Abstract

An 8-year-old sexually intact male Golden Retriever with a history of collapse during exercise underwent an examination during which tachydysrhythmia was identified. At another institution, a 12.5-year-old spayed female Lhasa Apso was referred because of a cough and for evaluation of a heart murmur. In the Golden Retriever, radiographic examination revealed bulging of the craniodorsal aspect of the cardiac silhouette and echocardiography revealed right atrial dilatation. In the Lhasa Apso, a cranial mediastinal mass was suspected on the basis of radiographic findings, but no abnormalities were detected echocardiographically. In both dogs, nonselective angiography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed a markedly enlarged, thin-walled right auricle. Exploratory thoracotomy in the Golden Retriever revealed a defect in the pericardium through which the right auricle and part of the atrium had herniated. In dogs, a right auricular aneurysm should be considered in differential diagnoses of a cranial mediastinal mass (detected radiographically) adjacent to the cardiac silhouette.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Coronary Angiography / veterinary
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Dog Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Dog Diseases / surgery
  • Dogs
  • Echocardiography / methods
  • Echocardiography / veterinary
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Heart Aneurysm / diagnosis
  • Heart Aneurysm / surgery
  • Heart Aneurysm / veterinary*
  • Heart Atria
  • Male
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / veterinary