I have been reading all of the posts on hearts and am planning on having echo's done on two dogs next month at our clinic (a dog and a bitch - littermates) in order to finally take the next step from auscultation which they both have had and were clear. These will be the first echo's done on my dogs (no flames here please - just trying to do the right thing and move forward)

Over the weekend I was informed that the echo is not the way to go but that a color doppler (sp?)is really the only accurate test (of course, those are more $$ and are not offered at the clinic).

I was always under the impression that they were one and the same but now from my understanding they are like comparing an x-ray to an MRI.

Help me please understand the difference and why/when you would do an echo and not the doppler or vice/versa.

TIA for any information.

An echocardiogram (often called "echo") is a graphic outline of the heart's movement. During an echocardiogram test, ultrasound (high-frequency sound waves) that comes from a hand-held wand placed on the chest, is used to provide pictures of the heart's valves and chambers and help the sonographer evaluate the pumping action of the heart. Echo is often combined with Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler to evaluate blood flow across the heart’s valves. I don't know of any canine cardiologists who do not do an echo/color doppler.

If you see a board certified cardiologist, they will perform a Echo color doppler, standard procedure.That is why it is such a great test - using the ultrasound of the heart, PLUS the color doppler. I would not do one without the other, never heard of any specialist doing just one. You want the echo with the color doppler. They do this in human heart tests too. Very thourough.

Echocardiography creates an image of the heart using ultra-high-frequency sound waves-sound waves that are too high in frequency to be heard by the human ear. The technique is very similar to ultrasound scanning commonly used to visualize the fetus during pregnancy.

An echocardiography examination generally lasts between 15-30 minutes. The patient lies bare-chested on an examination table. A special gel is spread over the chest to help the transducer make good contact and slide smoothly over the skin. The transducer, a small hand-held device at the end of a flexible cable, is placed against the chest. Essentially a modified microphone, the transducer directs ultrasound waves into the chest. Some of the waves get echoed (or reflected) back to the transducer. Since different tissues and blood all reflect ultrasound waves differently, these sound waves can be translated into a meaningful image of the heart, which can be displayed on a monitor or recorded on paper or tape. The patient does not feel the sound waves, and the entire procedure is painless. In fact, there are no known side effects.

Occasionally, variations of the echocardiography test are used. For example, Doppler echocardiography employs a special microphone that allows technicians to measure and analyze the direction and speed of blood flow through blood vessels and heart valves. This makes it especially useful for detecting and evaluating regurgitation through the heart valves. By assessing the speed of blood flow at different locations around an obstruction, it can also help to precisely locate the obstruction.

An exercise echocardiogram is an echocardiogram performed during exercise, when the heart muscle must work harder to supply blood to the body. This allows doctors to detect heart problems that might not be evident when the body is at rest and needs less blood. For patients who are unable to exercise, certain drugs can be used to mimic the effects of exercise by dilating the blood vessels and making the heart beat faster.

Even if its offered at a clinic for just an "Echo" I would personally go to the cardiologist's office and have the echo with color doppler done, if the clinic cardiologist is not doing both the echo with color doppler, but I cannot imagine a cardiologist would do a echo without doing a color doppler with it. The color doppler shows things that just a echo does not, that is why they do both the echo (ultrasound of the heart) and then the color doppler. You will be able to see it on the screen and once you see it, it might make more sense their differences and why each is important. If you have ever had a ultrasound done of your heart, they always do a color doppler with it, standard procedure. Doing only one, is like only getting one part of examining the heart done. There could be things that show in the color doppler that do not show on the echo (ultrasound). I am sure you can check to see which cardiologist is doing the clinic and then call their office to inquire and confirm. Good for you for doing both - very important tests, after all our heart and its health is what keeps us alive each day, right? Same with our dogs.

A color doppler can't be done if they don't have the equipment that's capable of doing a color doppler.

If I see that a dog is listed on his web site as echo cleared by a cardiolist and then see on the OFA aite that he has a echo number/clearance is this enough?

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I did contact the clinic organizer and it is a echo color doppler so I am thrilled. The clinic is in Woodinville, Washington and is being put on by PSLRA and is not in conjunction with a show. This clinic always has an excellent turnout and this will be the first year for the echo at the price of $150 (including auscultation)

The two I am taking will be 2 in September and I am excited/nervous about getting the final hips/elbows done as well as the echo. I have done EIC (both carriers), they are Optigen clear by parentage and have CERF numbers. I am keeping fingers/toes, etc crossed for good results.

Forgot to add - the test is being done by a respected cardiologist in the area.

This example given wasn't a full cardiac exam. A full one with echo/color doppler will indicate that. After the LR # at the end after PI will have PI-ECHO.

This(ECHO) is what you want to see on the OFA heart # report. If it doesn't say ECHO then you don't have a true report of the dog's heart.

Is this test still beneficial on an older dog that is breeding age. I did the cardiac exam OFA at 2 years old but not this test. Thanks to all the posters with good information; it is very helpful.

I had a well respected cardiologist tell me (when I asked when would be the best time to do an echo doppler on a dog) that the absolute "best" time to echo your dog to evaluate cardiac health was just before he died...so the older the better. Realistically, he recommends doing an echo at 18 months when the dog has reached his mature size. There can be significant changes if an exam is done before the dog has finished growing. He also recommends doing echos on retired older dogs (if they have not been done) so you can see what you have in your line and can be in a better position to make informed breeding choices on their younger dogs.

People should have the ARCH screening done when they take their dog to the cardiologist for an OFA cardiac echo exam.
The more data the cardiologists can collect the better off all of us Labradors breeders will be.

The oldest dog I have heard of getting an echo exam for OFA is 12 years. Good for those conscientious breeders.

I don't know what the "SN" database is testing for as these letters are not explained on the OFA website. CA is cardiac. So the clearance you are looking for will look like this actual example from the database:

LR-CA3821/52F/C-VPI-ECHO

My mistake...it was a cut & paste gone awry.