The Animal Heartbeat

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Christmas Day! As the roast dinner is cooking and the Prosecco is being chilled, join Jose and Kieran as they finalise their choice for top heart disease of 2023. Make sure to listen to the end for "The 12 Heart Diseases of Christmas" song in full!

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Christmas Eve. As Father Christmas readies the reindeer, what better way to prepare for festivities than discussing our favourite 12 heart diseases of Christmas? Join Kieran and Jose as they review their top heart disease facts and begin the process of selecting their favourite heart disease of 2023.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Recorded live at ECVIM Congress in 2023, this very special season finale see Kieran and Jose interview six incredible veterinary cardiology Diplomates from across the globe. Prof Roberto Santilli (Cornell / Malpensa) discusses his work on atrial depolarisation waves in SVT; David Connolly (RVC) considers the next generation of drugs to treat HCM in cats; Michele Borgarelli (Virginia Maryland) reviews his unique LOOK-Mitral registry data; Tony Glaus (Zurich) talks pulmonary hypertension and hypoxia in dogs; Jo Dukes McEwan (Liverpool) reflects on canine DCM, and Jessica Ward (Iowa) brings us her thoughts on RAAS inhibition in the 2020s.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Atrial fibrillation is a common and often debilitating arrhythmia, which can affect a heterogenous patient population. Being in atrial fibrillation reduces cardiac output significantly, and can lead to a vicious circle of tachycardia and cardiac remodelling. Join Jose and Kieran as they interview Professor Anna Gelzer, from the University of Pennsylvania in the USA, and Dr Brigite Pedro, from Centro de Cardiologia Veterinaria do Porto and Virtual Veterinary Specialists. Prof Gelzer is a world renowned expert in conduction disturbances in companion animals, and Dr Pedro has recently completed a PhD in atrial fibrillation in dogs. As part of this work, they have collaborated on landmark research into the outcome of dogs with atrial fibrillation. In this episode, results from their recent publications are shared, alongside a wealth of experience in managing dogs with this challenging condition.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Pulmonary valve stenosis has become the most common congenital heart disease in dogs, and changes to the breeding population of dogs across the world over the last 20 years has seemingly influenced the morphology of the disease that we identify. In turn, this has posed challenges to cardiologists in terms of selecting the best diagnostic methods and approaches to treatment. In this episode, join Kieran and Jose as they interview Professor Brian Scansen from Colorado State University - interventionist, researcher, teacher and pioneer - and discuss their thoughts on the management of pulmonary valve stenosis in the 2020s.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a common disease in dogs, which is almost uniquely difficult to diagnose in the early stages. In this episode, Kieran and Jose interview Prof Gerhard Wess, a clinician and researcher who leads the cardiology department at the LMU University of Munich, Germany. Prof Wess brings his extensive, decades-spanning experience of diagnosing and managing DCM to the podcast and shares his advice on how best to assess potential cases.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Dr Claudio Bussadori, inspirational veterinary specialist in cardiology and experienced human interventional cardiologist from the Clinica Veterinaria Gran Sasso in Milan, discusses aortic stenosis with Jose and Kieran. In the 23-years since he led the seminal guidelines used to assess the severity of congenital outflow tract stenosis in dogs, our understanding and approach to aortic stenosis has evolved - Dr Bussadori's unique comparative approach allows a wide-ranging discussion of this fascinating topic.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. In the first of our special guest episodes, Professor Virginia Luis Fuentes from the Royal Veterinary College, London, joins Kieran and Jose to talk about treating cardiomyopathy in cats - beyond furosemide and clopidogrel. Listen in as Prof Luis Fuentes, a world-renowned expert and thought leader in feline heart disease, describes how she approaches a variety of treatment situations in cats, and the current thinking in human and feline medicine.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Pulmonary hypertension is a common complicating factor of heart disease in dogs, but is a cardiovascular disorder in its own right, associated with a number of primary disease processes. In this episode, Jose and Kieran discuss the diagnosis, causes and management of pulmonary hypertension in dogs.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Mitral valve disease in dogs is the most common disorder encountered in veterinary cardiology. In this episode, Kieran and Jose discuss what factors could predict those dogs which are more likely to progress, what tests could be used to assess dogs with stage B mitral valve disease in primary care practice, and why the assessment of regurgitant fraction on echo may be important in decision making.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. In the second part of their discussion on mitral valve disease prognostic indicators, Jose and Kieran talk about what echo measurements provide the most useful assessment of prognosis in stage B disease, consider whether there is a place for using cardiac biomarkers in monitoring pre-clinical dogs, and review the recent literature covering how best to predict progression in pre-clinical dogs.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Jose and Kieran discuss heart murmurs in juvenile dogs. What findings make a heart murmur less likely to be pathological, and are there any ways of identifying young dogs with the most significant heart disease in primary care practice? What about those puppies with complex congenital disease that is not associated with an obvious heart murmur - can we identify where an echo may be useful in unexpected cases?

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Join veterinary cardiology specialists, Kieran Borgeat and Jose Novo Matos, in a discussion of feline heart disease. This is the first of a two-part series opening special, covering how to approach heart murmurs in cats, when it may be useful to use blood tests in screening, and how to facilitate performing a heart scan in feline patients.

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Join Kieran and Jose in the second part of a special series-opener on the topic of feline cardiology, focusing on echocardiographic findings in cats with cardiomyopathy. Here, we delve into the topic of differentials for left ventricular hypertrophy (so-called phenocopies of HCM), prognostic factors associated with morphology, and when to intervene in pre-clinical cats with a hypertrophic phenotype.