Karatzoglou G. DVM, MSc Student, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Tsitsilianou A. DVM, MSc Student, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Papazoglou L. DVM, Professor Small Animal Surgery, PhD, MRCVS, Head Companion Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences, Clinic of Companion Animals, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Introduction
The study aims to present a series of clinical cases of pectus excavatum in dogs and cats.
Clinical case
Four clinical cases are included, two dogs and two cats. The animals were presented with one or more of the following clinical signs: exercise intolerance, tachypnea, cyanosis, heart murmur, arrhythmias, or respiratory distress.
Results
Diagnosis of pectus excavatum was based on clinical examination and lateral and ventrodorsal chest radiographs and after radiographic assessment of the degree of deformity, followed by surgical treatment using an external (abdominal) peripheral splint. Of all the cases, the first dog had a complete restoration of the pectus excavatum at postoperative follow-up after one year. The second dog also had a full recovery at a thirty-day postoperative follow- up but died of unrelated causes. The first cat had a complete restoration of pectus excavatum at postoperative follow-up at two years but developed contact dermatitis due to the external splint. Finally, the second cat developed iatrogenic pyothorax resulting in death after 27 days.
Conclusions
After a median postoperative follow-up of 288 days, two of the four clinical cases, one dog and one cat, had a favorable prognosis and were free of pectus excavatum symptoms.
