What is the best method to use when getting heart clearances?
Thanks

Echo/Doppler which includes an Auscultation

http://www.offa.org/cardiacgeninfo.html

Quote from the OFA Breeder Guidelines:

"Echocardiography is an inappropriate screening tool for the identification of congenital heart disease and should be performed only when the results of clinical examinations suggest a definite or potential cardiovascular abnormality."

We've heard you over & over. By far the best evaluation is by echo color dopplar which includes an auscultation.

I asked Dr. Sleeper her opinion, and she said that yes, a small subset of dogs affected with TVD may not have an auscultable murmur, and that the gold standard for clearance will be the echocardiogram (until there is a blood test), however, there is obviously more expense associated with echo.

I do think that most cases of TVD should be found on auscultation, and would be happy if ALL Labs were auscultated. However some cases of TVD will be missed.

http://www.working-retriever.com/library/tricuspid.html

"How can you tell if your dog has TVD? Fortunately any leakage from a dysplastic valve that is signifigant enough to cause health problems should be detectable on a physical exam. Most of the time, a heart murmur will be heard with a stethoscope. Occasionally a gap between the valve leaflets will be so large ,that rather than producing an audible heart murmur, the leak can be felt by placing a hand on the right side of the chest- the palpable buzzing sensation is called a "thrill". If a heart murmur or thrill is detected in a young dog, chest x-rays and an ultrasound of the heart (echocardiogram) should be done to confirm the diagnosis and stage the disease. Labradors can have other congenital heart defects besides or in addition to TVD, so a full cardiac work-up for these dogs is important.

The diagnosis of TVD is controversial only when attempting to screen asymptomatic breeding animals for the disease. This becomes problematic because TVD is expressed on a continuum: Severe, Moderately Severe, and not affected. It was originally believed that all dogs with TVD would have a heart murmur, but it has since been discovered that occasional dogs in the Mild range do not have an audible heart murmur. The small amount of leakage combined with the fact that tricuspid regurgitation has a low velocity means that a soft murmur may not be able to penetrate through the chest wall. Even if a murmur can be heard in perfect conditions, there may be extenuating factors ,which cause it to be missed by the examining veterinarian. These factors would include ambient noise, panting, wiggling,and individual variation in sensitivity to different frequencies of sound. For these reasons, I personally believe that echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound) is the best tool for screening for TVD. The heart should be examined with 2 -D ultrasound which gives a black and white 2 dimensional picture and just as importantly, with color Doppler. The latter uses Doppler technology to show blood flowing through the heart. It highlights abnormal blood flow such as leakage from a valve.
"

My feeling is that an ascultation is better than nothing. I find alot of clinics offer it and we should all do all of our dogs, and support the clinics wise enough to offer this. While color doppler is the gold standard, no reason to poo poo getting at least SOMETHING done.

Agreed. Most cases of TVD should be picked up with auscultation.

Something is not better than nothing when it comes down to choosing between 2 males that are equal in every way except one has an echo/doppler clearance and the other doesn't...something will win out over nothing I would bet.

Auscultation is the Gold Standard.

Per all of my conversations with canine cardiologists an auscultation for them is not the gold standard.

Unfortunately most people have an auscultation done by a general practice veterinarian.

JMHO ...Guidelines from an Orthopedic Foundation for Animals Registry do not carry the same weight as guidelines from a Canine Cardiologist who has Diplomate status from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the College of Cardiology.

All of this being said, each individual breeder has to make up their own mind what their choices are for any risk factor in their breeding program. I can no more dictate with succes what others should do, than I can get my 16 yr old to wear a certain outfit!!

Geesh - get over it!

Gee wiz doesn't ANYONE take their dogs to the vet anymore??????
If you do, then you would know that vets LISTEN to HEARTS everytime they see a dog!!
Just because I had my vet fill out a piece of paper with OFA's name on it doesn't mean my dogs heart was never listened to before that day!!!!

OFA guidelines were developed in consultation with cardiologists. If you disagree, take up your disagreements with OFA instead of discounting other breeders for following the guidelines.

This constant rehash & bashing from a couple of posters(probably just one very familiar one under different screen names)is getting boring. Give us all a break from your constant bullying and realize that there might just be other opinions than yours.

The OFA Guidelines were written to cover a broad range of heart disease. They are general "guidelines"
not a specific veterinary manual on how to diagnose Tricuspid Valve Displasia. I believe you are correct in that they should be revised to reflect that auscultation alone not an adequate tool in detecting TVD. A number of experienced breeders, specialists in veterinary cardiac medicine, and chiefs of cardiology in veterinary schools advocate the use of echocardiography in TVD screening.