15 Jan 2020
A team of three cardiologists performed minimally invasive stent procedure on boxer to relieve pulmonary artery compression due to a large heart base tumour.
David Woodmansey
Job Title
Sergeant has experienced a resolution of clinical signs since the procedure. Image: Langford Vets.
Cardiologists have performed a novel procedure that provides hope for dogs with heart base tumours.
Sergeant, a 10-year-old boxer, has bounced his way into a new decade after the procedure relieved pulmonary artery compression due to a large heart base tumour, which caused him to experience syncope every time he became excited or exercised.
Using a jugular venous approach, the cardiology team at Langford Vets – part of the University of Bristol – deployed a balloon expandable metallic stent in Sergeant’s right pulmonary artery, to relieve compression of the vessel caused by the weight of the mass.
Since the procedure, in September 2019, Sergeant has experienced a resolution of clinical signs.
A team of three cardiologists – Kieran Borgeat, Rosie Payne and Samantha Gomart – performed the minimally invasive stent procedure using a transvascular route.
Dr Borgeat, department head at Langford Vets, said: “We have a large amount of interventional cardiology and stenting experience, and believed this would be a feasible procedure with a positive result on our hands.
“Sergeant’s quality of life was poor, owing to a lack of pulmonary blood flow, and our echo and CT scans had shown us the mass of the heart base tumour was causing significant arterial compression and compromising cardiac output.
“We felt that even a small improvement in flow should benefit him, and – thankfully – we were right.”
