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Tampa Veterinary Cardiologist Saves Pup’s Heart
~New Technology Makes Difficult Procedures More Available to Pet Parents~
Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, March 17, 2009 – A five-month old puppy named Lovche came to the Florida Veterinary Specialists (FVS) with a heart murmur and was diagnosed by Dr. Alan Spier, DVM, PhD, a cardiologist, as having a congenital heart disease. Dr. Spier successfully performed a new minimally-invasive procedure that is rare.
“A heart murmur in puppies is something that should always be evaluated,” says Dr. Spier. “A suspicion of a congenital heart disease begins with the detection of a murmur. We made a diagnoses based on chest X-rays and an ECHO, which is basically a cardiac ultrasound.”
Lovche was diagnosed with Patent Ductus Arterosus otherwise known as PDA, which is the most common congenital heart disease found in pets that leans to turbulent blood flow from the heart and ultimately a shortened lifespan. If a puppy is diagnosed with PDA, a pet owner previously had to choose risky open chest surgery. However, Dr. Spier can now cure the condition by performing a much less invasive procedure that can fix the heart.
Dr. Spier used a fluoroscopy and catheters to implant a device that plugs the ducts from the inside of the heart. A small skin incision was made and the catheters were placed in an artery to reach the heart. The benefits of this surgery are seen immediately.
“The recovery time is almost zero and Lovche was able to go home the following day,” continued Dr. Spier. “The technology we used from when we diagnosed Lovche to when we performed the surgery is a good indication that the gap between human medicine and veterinary medicine is coming to a close.”
Florida Veterinary Specialists is a referral-based hospital with 24-hour emergency care services dedicated to providing a superior level of patient and client care through close cooperation with the family practitioner. Their specialized services include Acupuncture, Avian & Exotic, Behavioral Medicine, Cardiology, Critical Care, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Oncology & Radiation, Ophthalmology, Radiology, Rehabilitation and Surgery. Florida Veterinary Specialists is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is located at 3000 Busch Lake Blvd. in Tampa. In addition to its Tampa location, FVS has satellite facilities in Clearwater and Brandon. For further information, please visit www.fvs.com.
Florida Veterinary Specialists is a member hospital of BluePearl Veterinary Partners, along with NYC Veterinary Specialists (www.nycvs.com) and Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center of Kansas City (www.vseckc.com). BluePearl Veterinary Partners merged in 2008 and is one of the leading providers of emergency and specialized referral veterinary medicine.
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