Cavalier Argos,
a Man's best companion

A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel consulting the Vet

NEWS :: SCIENCE

Man himself cannot express love and humility by external signs, so plainly as does a dog, when with drooping ears, hanging lips, flexuous body, and wagging tail, he meets his beloved master.
Charles Darwin

Dogs & sciences

Innovative transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TEER)

Non intrusive heart surgery to repair the mitral valve is available since January 2020 at Colorado State University at Denver with Prof Christopher Orton's Cardiology team (see attached information)

And most recently, since December 2022, in France at Hopia.fr with Dr Sabine Bozon's Cardiology team;

as well as in the United Kingdom at Willows Veterinary Centre & referral service with Dr Simon Swift's Cardiology team

Dog Neutering contoversy & the latest scientific findings

Innovative non invasive procedure to treat heart failure in dogs

Willows has launched a ground-breaking cardiology procedure for dogs only previously used in human healthcare.

The minimally invasive transeptal puncture (TSP) now being performed by our world-renowned cardiology team avoids opening the chest or heart and involves using minimally invasive techniques to pass a thin flexible tube from the right atrium through to the left-hand side of the heart.

... full notice at Willows

Hearts in his hands: mitral valve repair in the UK

Professor Daniel Brockman is the director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Service at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and one of very few people in the world capable of performing mitral valve repair surgery on canine patients.
...
“There are thousands of dogs who would benefit from this, but due to the challenging nature of the surgery, the multidisciplinary approach required and the costs involved, very few can access it across the globe. There are maybe two or three active mitral valve repair programmes in Japan, one in France, one in Austria, and two in the UK. Ours is probably the busiest of such programmes outside Japan.”
... full article here

Veterinary student, Maciej Szczepański, builds 3D printed prostheses for injured dogs

... more information at TheFirstNews.com and at Wimba.vet

Student design may lead to heart treatment for small dogs

Dr. Romain Pariaut, associate professor of cardiology at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is collaborating with a team of biomedical engineering students in the Master of Engineering Program to find a cheap, less invasive and effective solution to mitral valve disease.
... full article here

Welfare problems of flat-faced dogs (English & French Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekingese, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) - can we ever solve them?

This APDAWG [All-party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group] meeting explored brachycephalic welfare issues and the challenges we face when trying to improve the ‘wicked problem’ of brachycephalic dog welfare. The meeting promoted positive actions to improve the overall welfare of brachycephalic dogs.

Dr Christopher Orton of Colorado State University veterinary team performs first-ever heart valve procedure on schnauzer

What began as an educational trip ended up with a momentous medical first for Colorado State University.
During the first week of January, a team led by Dr. Chris Orton, veterinary cardiothoracic surgeon, traveled to China to meet with leaders from the Shanghai Hanyu Medical Technology Company. The CSU team planned to learn more about a new device to treat dogs with mitral regurgitation, a leak of the valve between the left ventricle and the left atrium of the heart, and a common condition in older dogs.
Following initial meetings, the CSU team was asked to perform a procedure using the new device on a 7-year-old miniature schnauzer named Datou, or Big Head.
“He was in an advanced stage of heart failure and had perhaps a few months to live,” said Orton, also a professor of clinical sciences at CSU.

... read the article here

Preliminary Outcome of a Novel Edge-to-Edge Closure Device to Manage Mitral Regurgitation in Dogs

Anuloplastia mitral en Nicolás, primer paciente peruano operado en Japón

Why are so many of our pets overweight?

When I looked at my appointment book for the day, I thought something must be wrong. Someone who worked in the fitness industry was bringing his cat in to the Tufts Obesity Clinic for Animals. Did he confuse us for a different kind of weight management clinic? Is he looking to get muscle on his cat or maybe kitty protein shakes?

I was utterly surprised when I called for my appointment in the lobby and an athletic man stood up with an almost 20-pound cat! I asked if I could speak bluntly with him. Why does someone who clearly knows a lot about keeping healthy need to bring his cat to a veterinary nutritionist? What would he say if the cat was one of the people he helps to keep fit every day? Our conversation then went something like this…

“Well, I’d tell her, suck it up, buttercup. Do some kitty pushups and no more treats!”

“Well, I have to ask, then, what’s stopping you from doing this with your cat?”

With a worried look of guilt on his face, he replied, “Well, Dr. Linder, I mean… she meows at me…”

This was the moment I realized that I was treating pet obesity all wrong. I needed to focus less on the pet and more on the relationship between people and their pets. That’s what’s literally cutting the lives short of the dogs and cats we love so much.

... read in full this article in The Conversation

Dr. Borgarelli, from Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medice, reports successful replacement of mitral valve chords using the Harpoon TSD-5 device.

M. Borgarelli, O. Lanz, N. Pavlisko, J.A. Abbott, G. Menciotti, M. Aherne, S.M. Lahmers, K.K. Lahmers, J.S. Gammie. J. Vet. Cardiol. May 2017.
Quote: Objective: Mitral valve (MV) regurgitation due to degenerative MV disease is the leading cause of cardiac death in dogs. We carried out preliminary experiments to determine the feasibility and short-term effects of beating-heart MV repair using an expanded polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE) chordal implantation device (Harpoon TSD-5) in dogs. Animals: This study involved six healthy purpose-bred Beagles (weight range 8.9–11.4 kg). Material and Methods: Following a mini-thoracotomy performed under general anesthesia, the TSD-5 was used to place 1 or 2 artificial ePTFE cords on the anterior MV leaflet or the posterior MV leaflet via a left-ventricular transapical approach. The procedure was guided and monitored by transesophageal echocardiography. Postoperative antithrombotic treatment consisted of clopidogrel or a combination of clopidogrel and apixaban. Dogs were serially evaluated by transthoracic echocardiography at day 1, 7, 14, 21, and 30. The hearts were then examined for evaluation of tissues reactions and to detect signs of endothelialization. Results: One or two chords were successfully implanted in five dogs. Four dogs completed the 30 days follow-up. One dog died intra-operatively because of aortic perforation. One dog died early post-operatively from a hemorrhagic pleural effusion attributed to overly aggressive antithrombotic treatment. One dog developed a thrombus surrounding both the knot and the synthetic cord. Postmortem exam confirmed secure placement of ePTFE knots in the mitral leaflets in all dogs and the presence of endothelialization of the knots and chords. Conclusions: This pilot study has demonstrated feasibility of using the Harpoon TSD-5 device to place and anchor ePTFE artificial chords to the MV of small dogs and that endothelialization of the synthetic cord and knots can start within 30 days.

...more in CavalierHealth.org

Read also:
Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair in Dogs with Chronic Mitral Valve Disease (CVD) ... [+]

Researchers study heart disease in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels using high-tech 3-D imaging ... [+]

Veterinary college study and pioneering database tackle most common heart disease in dogs ... [+]

Outstanding canine open-heart surgery succeeds

Last April, Dylan Raskin’s Japanese Chin, Esme, was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation, a fatal condition that causes backflow of blood in the heart’s chambers. Though veterinarians initially treated the condition with pills, the dog’s heart failure became worse, leading specialists to predict just a few more months of life for Esme.

Esme’s future now looks bright, as the Chin received a rare and successful seven-hour open-heart surgery at Cornell’s Hospital for Animals Nov. 19 and was released with a healthy prognosis Nov. 26. The surgery was conducted by (Dr Masima UECHI's) a team of five Japanese veterinarians who specialize in such heart surgeries, and led to some hefty medical bills, including $22,000 to fly the surgical team to Ithaca and $10,000 in hospital fees.

Raskin did research to find and contact the Japanese surgeons, and with the help of two Cornell alumnae, the College of Veterinary Medicine agreed to sponsor the procedure.

... more in Cornell Chronicle [+]

Read also:

Man turns to Cornell, spends last dollar to save dog ... [+]

'Miracle' dog Esme doing well after upstate New York man spends $32,000 for life-saving heart surgery ... [+]

Upstate New York man raising $30,000 in attempt to save dog's life ... [+]
WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

Dog's open-heart surgery opens doors for others ... [+]

Koffee Kat on Wheels hits the road ... [+]

Author and Friend ... [+]

Esme lived well and full of energy -without medication- after his cardiac surgery by Dr Uechi in November 2014. Sadly, Esme died recently due to a pancreatic cancer (June 2017)

New premises for JASMINE as from May 2020

How smart are animals -except humans?

This photo of me, Argos, was taken by my friends after my bypass heart surgery at Jasmine Veterinary Cardiovascular Medical Center in Japan, (Monday 9th April 2018).

Anti-aging gene shown to rewind heart age by 10 years

An anti-aging gene discovered in a population of centenarians has been shown to rewind the heart's biological age by 10 years. The breakthrough, published in Cardiovascular Research and led by scientists at the University of Bristol and the MultiMedica Group in Italy, offers a potential target for patients with heart failure.
... more here

Saving dogs with mitral valve disease while advancing human medicine

After his daughter’s dog was struck down by heart valve disease, UCHealth interventional cardiologist Dr. John Carroll teamed up with Colorado State University (CSU) veterinary professor to advance cardiology across species.
... full article here

The goal of the Dog Aging Project is to understand how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence aging. We want to use that information to help pets and people increase healthspan, the period of life spent free from disease.

Darwins’ Ark is a revolutionary, collaborative scientific initiative. We are bringing together the best minds in genetics, medicine and behavior – including pet owners, who know their pets better than any scientist ever could! ...

Gel that repairs heart attack damage could improve health of millions

Injectable, biodegradable technology developed by UK team works as a scaffold to help new tissue grow...
full article in The Guardian

Study of 25 cavaliers shows β-oxidation declines as mitral valve disease progresses.

...Earlier echo studies of cavaliers' LA:Ao ratios -- both those with normal-sized hearts and others in heart failure -- are consistent with the LA:Ao data in this study. One study of 166 cavaliers found that the upper limit of a normal-sized left atrium was 1.27 (instead of 1.6); and another study of 13 cavaliers found that MVD-affected cavaliers with LA/Ao as low as 1.43 had both enlarged LAs and had clinical signs of heart failure.

So, the bottom line is that the EPIC Study and 2019 ACVIM Consensus Statement definition of normal-sized and enlarged hearts is totally bogus when applied to cavalier King Charles spaniels.

... read the full article here

Dogs share 'linguistic talent' with humans, researchers state

Dogs are able to recognise words and different people’s voices, a study has claimed.
For those who have never had a pet in their household, they may think it is odd when dog owners speak to their canine companions as if they’re having a two-way conversation.
However, according to new research, dogs are able to discern different words and distinct human voices.

...read full article in The Independent

Read also:
Dogs can understand human speech, scientists discover: Brain scans discover evidence that dogs process language in a similar way to humans and are only truly happy if a praising tone of voice is matched by the actual words spoken ... [+]

Why We Age and Why We Don't Have To
by David Sinclair

Is your dog happy to see you? Look at its eyebrows to find out

While most dog owners will recognise their pet’s wagging tail as a sign of joy, they may also want to pay more attention to their animal’s face the next time they walk in through the front door.
Animal behaviour experts have found the animals’ emotions are betrayed by specific facial movements that can reveal whether your dog really is pleased to see you.
Using high-speed cameras, the researchers tracked the changes in the faces of dogs in the moments they were reunited with their owners or when meeting a stranger for the first time.
... [+]

Professor of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery Developing Treatment for Mitral Valve Disease in Dogs

The greatest gift that Dr. Christopher Orton can give to a student of veterinary cardiology is confidence. It’s very difficult to detect the first symptom of the most common cause of heart disease in dogs: a heart murmur. When the student puts her stethoscope to a dog’s chest and tries to detect the whooshing or rasping sounds of turbulent blood, she may struggle to hear anything other than the heartbeat. It takes time, experience, and confidence to identify the first telltale sign of mitral valve disease.

Mitral valve disease is the most common cause of heart disease in dogs, affecting 2.5 million to 5 million dogs in the United States. It also affects 2 percent of the human population. The canine heart is very similar to the human heart, with four chambers connected by valves that prevent blood from flowing backwards. When the heart contracts, all of the blood in the left ventricle should flow out into the body, but if a dog or a person has a faulty mitral valve, a small amount of blood will fl ow backward from the left ventricle into the left atrium, resulting in a heart murmur.

As the disease progresses, the patient will develop other symptoms, including a cough, lethargy, high blood pressure, fainting, and eventually heart failure. There’s no cure for mitral valve disease. Veterinarians use medications to manage the heart failure and improve the dog’s quality of life for as long as possible. But dogs and their families will soon have a life-saving choice. Orton, professor of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, has spent six years developing a minimally invasive treatment for mitral valve disease. Transcatheter mitral valve implantation, or TAMVI, uses a catheter to deliver an artificial valve through the apex of the heart.

...Orton is also working on a new drug therapy that will make it possible to prevent or slow mitral valve disease. His research group was the first to show that mitral valves produce serotonin locally, and that serotonin levels are elevated in dogs with mitral valve disease, indicating a potential drug therapy. By working on both drug therapy and valve replacement, his group is aiming both to prevent the disease and to help dogs with advanced heart disease that, until recently, faced certain death.

... more in CSU Ventures [+]

Useful Links

Interview of Dr Masami UECHI with Dr Sayaka TACHEUCHI
by Mighty Hearts Project

If you travel to Yokohama (Tokyo, Japan) with your dog for heart surgery to world renown Jasmine Veterinary Cardiovascular Medical Center, we suggest that you rent Lala House flat, which is comfortable and at only 20 min walk by a beautiful park from Jasmine's. Moreover Ms Kiyomi is a very kind and helpful host.

Mitral valve repair surgery saved our dog Harper
by Kim Campbell Thornton

A solution for Mitral Valve Disease?
Novel gene therapies for dogs

Mitral Valve Disease

Over seven million dogs in the United States alone have Mitral Valve Disease (MVD). For certain breeds, such as Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, more than 80% of dogs will be afflicted with MVD. We aim to change this.

Solution

We have developed a cardio-protective gene therapy that holds the promise of stopping the progression of MVD. We are preparing to run a pilot study in dogs with MVD.

Click here to learn more about REJUVENATE BIO

Cavalier Argos, a Man's best companion