My 5yo lab had an echo which turned up a very tiny mytral valve regurgitation with faint murmur. Previous ascultations(sp) showed no issue and got Cardiac Clear at age 2.

The doc marked it "unequivocal" meaning not known inheritance. Adamant it is not TVD, wrong valve. Follow up 1 year later, no change.

Dog has no symptoms, just this slight irregularity. Do I cast him out? No "heart" issues in sibs and all tested dogs, all direct ancestors cleared, as well as their siblings.

I think it is just some abnormality for this particular dog.

He has produced 5 litters, no pups have problems. None sent for echo after cardiologist did the asculations(sp).

What would you do about this situation?

Has anyone else got this Dx on a lab? was it explained how, why or ramifications?

Thanks

If it were my dog who had this little valve problem discovered on an echo, I'd see about getting alot of his kids in to be echod. Listening via a stethescope will catch some major heart issues but like you found out, this type of heart screening isn't 100 %.

Just because your 5 yr boy wasn't diagnosed with TVD and those particular valves, doesn't make his heart normal with the one valve that is not working properly. It's still genetic and I wouldn't breed him anymore. JMO. I am sorry to hear about your boy's heart but am glad that he isn't affected and can live a normal life.

I have mitral valve prolapse. One study done ages ago found the condition present in 20% of college age women examined. The only effect it has on me is I get pre-ventricular contractions if I take over-the-counter cold medications. That is, occasionally a contraction occurs early. When it does, an abnormally large amount of blood accumulates in the chamber for the next contraction. It feels like my heart skips a beat, because I do not feel the early contraction but do feel the next one.

I have always been athletic and very strong. This has not caused me a single day of trouble. Aside from being told to take antibiotics the day of invasive dental work and, of course, avoiding over-the-counter cold & allergy products, the condition has had absolutely no effect on my health.

It is silly to discard a dog from your breeding program unless a veterinary cardiologist tells you the dog must never be bred. Do not look to amateurs and alarmists on the forum for guidance.

Why did you do an echo on an apparently normal 5 year old dog?

If you read the OFA Breeder Guidelines, auscultation is the first line screening. If the dog does not have a normal auscultation, you do an echo.

in this day with the high technology of color echos, auscultation should not clear a dog for breeding stock. not all dogs with cardiac issues present with murmer or a murmer that can be heard by a regular veterinarian. This has been proven with dogs with mitral valve and TVD.imho all breeding stock should be evaluated with a color doppler echo by a cardiologist DACVM. period. and just maybe ofa should look at reevaluating their guidelines.
not that this will prevent all cardiac issues from rearing their ugly head by chromosomes, but those that are staring us in the face can be prevented if we aren't afraid of what we will find.

And these posts clearly show your lack of understanding of what an echo can and cannot do. The OFA guidelines are quite appropriate for this day and age.

what can an auscultation do better than an echocardiogram??????? you cannot show structure of a valve or the chambers by a simple auscultation!!!

Maybe 20 years ago they were, not for today, the OFA has set a MINIMUM benchmark of what criteria they will accept. The ideal and preferred standard should be both. I know of several instances where diagnosis were missed because echo was not done. If you are going to breed your stud, especially offer him to the public, anything less than both, you are selling the long term welfare of the breed short.

i agree, you are fooling yourself if you think you can offer breeding stock with a clear conscious without having an echo done. period. we need to start thinking about what is best for the future of this wonderful breed.

oh nonsense. you're talking folk medicine. the auscultation is the gold standard, and OFA has developed these guidelines with cardiologists. you cannot interpret the meaning of an echo without a murmur.

Since a two dogs cleared with echos can (and did!) produce TVD your argument is mute. Dogs are switched for examiner in the name of the almighty dollar, a precentage of dogs cleared by echo still carry the genetics to produce it while presenting no clinical signs, you are living with a false sense of security hiding behind an echo certificate. A cardiologist exam (either) hand in hand with knowlege of pedigrees of where this is coming from is probably the best tool for our beloved breed. Been there, done that and brokenhearted for my dog and the famlies of affected puppies. I guess that is another one of those things that advances you out of the newbie catagory (another thread). But in the name of winning or greed some will always choose to turn the other cheek .

Okay all - this drives me nuts and I see it all the time: it's MOOT point, not MUTE point!

http://languagerules.wordpress.com/2006/09/25/moot-point-not-mute-point/

no, i meant the pun--mute, a play off the error of the other person's post. should have put a smiley face. oh well, this forum lacks all sense of humor anyway.

i agree with you disallusioned. echo is not the end all be all with TVD. genetic carriers play a role and gene testing will hopefully be a gold standard in the near future. but without an echo we will be passing on more cardiac issues than without one because we all know auscultation can miss a murmur caused by TVD or a small percentage don't have one. i too am living the TVD nightmare even though there were two echo cleared parents. so to all you out there who think for one minute that just an auscultation is sufficient think again! it is not! so since gene testing is not here yet. be responsible. and to what was said in an earlier thread, if there is no murmur tvd cannot be proven with an echo..... NOT TRUE. you obviously don't understand TVD. it is when the valve does not function correctly which is seen very clearly under echo doppler!!! murmur heard or not!

There is a bigger picture here. Yes, that is one of many tools used to make decisions as responsible breeders. Why would anyone even consider not using all "available tools" to best make educated breeding decisions? Is testing a guarantee that something still might pop up, NO. But, what about the stud dog that still gets used who didn't have an echo done, and later problems like what you describe happen? Echo is now done, and sure enough, the results now MAY explain the problems. Who would and should feel bad now????? Just a thought!!

folk medicine

Whoa Nelly, the dog in question has a mitral valve issue. Stay on topic. We aren't discussing TVD. Congenital heart defects are common and not hereditary.

Mitral Valve disease not ever genetic? Don't tell that to the researchers and breeders in other breeds where mitral valve disease is common, such as Cavaliers. I would hate to see MVD as prevalent in Labs as in Cavaliers--TVD is more than enough. I do NOT know if this non-congenital mitral valve issue on this particular Lab in OP kennel is genetic or not. In Cavaliers overall, it develops over time.Five yrs of age is when half of all the CKCS had MVD in study from the 90s as opposed to about age 10 yrs in other breeds. Careful selection AGAINST early onset dogs in the breeding programs has raised the age of onset in many lines, and in some areas of the USA. I am sorry for this trouble; I agree with echoing get, particularly linebred, older ones. Even then, it may or may not show up. Good luck with your results and your tough decisions.