Comparison of cardiac measurements by multi-detector computed tomography angiography and transthoracic echocardiography in English bulldogs

Abstract Introduction Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is the primary tool for the assessment of cardiac structure and function in dogs but is challenging in English bulldogs due to dorsoventral compression of the thorax, obesity, and narrow intercostal spaces. Multi-detector computed tomography angiography (CTA) may overcome the conformational obstacles of cardiac imaging in this breed. Animals Eleven client-owned English bulldogs. Materials and Methods Prospective clinical trial with paired analysis of TTE and CTA studies. Results Eight of the 25 linear cardiac dimensional measurements were significantly different between TTE and CTA ( p p Discussion High-quality cardiac angiographic studies were accomplished using CTA without the use of general anesthesia in English bulldogs. Multi-detector computed tomography angiography and TTE are not interchangeable modalities in the clinical setting. Conclusion Multi-detector-CT ECG-gated cardiac angiography is possible in sedated, non-intubated English bulldogs. Differences were found between some cardiac dimensions as measured by TTE in the awake dog and compared with sedated CTA, indicating the two methodologies are not equivalent. Sedated, non-intubated CTA yielded high-quality imaging with strong intraobserver and interobserver measurement repeatability in English bulldogs.