A research tale with a heart to match: Professor looks at cardiovascular ...

Small breed dogs, such as Cavalier King Charles spaniels, cocker spaniels, dachshunds, miniature poodles and Yorkshire terriers are more prone to chronic mitral valve disease. But Borgarelli's research has shown that the disease can also affect large breed dogs, such as German shepherds. He wants to search a list of factors to identify dogs more likely to progress to a severe disease stage. "That's very similar to people," Borgarelli said. "There are some people who don't progress to heart failure even without any treatment. Treatments options are also different between people and dogs. Severely afflicted humans can have their deteriorated valve repaired or replaced. You cannot do that with dogs, yet. But surgery is going to be an option in the future for dogs, and because not every dog will be affected by heart failure, it is important to be able to identify dogs at higher risk for progression of the disease." During a period of five years, Borgarelli and his research team conducted two population studies that involve more than 300 dogs. One population study, which was published in 2008, involved dogs that had mitral valve disease at different stages, from mild to severe. Another study, which the researchers are preparing for publication, involves dogs with the mild form of the disease. Borgarelli is leading an Italian study of another indicator, called Brain Natriuretic Peptide, or BNP. The study, which started last year and will last until 2015, has two major goals: to evaluate if treatment with a combination of two drugs can delay the onset of clinical signs of mitral valve disease and to evaluate if any biomarker, including the peptide, can be used to identify patient risk. The study, sponsored by pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, has just begun at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital and will continue until 2012. Researchers plan additional studies using new 3D technology to further evaluate the mitral valve. Their work is evidence of the rapid progress made on the disease in recent years, Borgarelli said.

Delsie Requa: Can an enlarged left atrium cause seizures?

I recently had a grand mal seizure, and while in the hospital they found I had an enlarged left atrium. Could seizures come from an enlarged atrium? For the past 7 or 8 months i've been REALLY sick, I even became septic at one point. I've always been very healthy, and I never had a seizure in my life before this! I'm so confused as to whats causing all this. I'm only 18 years old! Also, what are side effects from an enlarged atrium?

Pediatric Radiological Signs

Enlarged left atrium and ventricle. Radiological signs of pulmonary venous hypertension) Mitral valve stenosis, aquired or congenital (Large left atrium ...

Cardiac Imaging, A Multimodality Approach

Left Atrium Left Atrium3333–3838 When the left atrium is enlarged, ... A markedly enlarged left atrium may even project past the right cardiac border. ...

The Chest X-Ray, A Survival Guide

Figure 1 1 .9 Enlarged left ventricle and left atrium. ... In this patient the enlarged left atrium is evident because it is producing a distinctive double ...

The practice of clinical echocardiography

Occasionally, a particularly large thrombus can be seen in the enlarged left atrium by TTE (Fig. 40–1). The sensitivity of TTE for the detection of left ...

Aids to radiological differential diagnosis

... 196 5.4 Enlarged right atrium 197 5.5 Enlarged right ventricle 1 98 5.6 Enlarged left atrium 199 5.7 Enlarged left ventricle 200 5.8 Bulge on the left ...