So Georgia had her echocardiogram today at Upstate Veterinary Specialists in Latham NY. Good news and bad news. Georgia was born with Valvular Pulmonic Stenosis. This is a congenital heart defect of the semilunar valve that is between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery (great vessel that takes blood to the lungs). The leaflets of this valve are thickened and/or partially fused together. Sometimes the supporting structure known as the annulus is also narrow. Dogs that have this congenital defect have a wide range of stenosis to include very mild to severe obstruction to blood flow from the heart to the lungs. This defect may be associated with other congenital defects too (e.g. ventricular septal defect, overriding aorta, subaortic stenosis). Because this disease is associated with certain breeds it is likely that it is at least in part due to a mutation in as yet unidentified gene. We have started Georgia on medication and have a month to fix this. Sad thing is to fix this she needs surgery. The surgery will give Georgia the ability to life an entire life span happy and healthy rather than dying of congestive heart failure by the age of 2. Balloon valvuloplasty is the treatment (surgery) used for valvular pulmonic stenosis. Not every dog with this defect can be helped by this procedure. From Georgias echocardiogram today, the dr said she is a great candidate and will fix her problem with a percentage of 97%. This treatment involves the passage under general anesthesia of special catheters which when an attached balloon is inflated, tears the restricted valve leaflets. Measurements of the pressure gradient before and after treatment give information as to the success of the treatment. This treatment involves specialized training of the veterinary cardiologists and the use of expensive specifically ordered catheters for each patient. We have exactly uo to a month to raise funding for her surgery. The surgery is quoted $3200.00 if we can not raise the funding solely for Georgia we will not be able to afford the surgery. Do you think we can help this precious baby get to adoption and live 10 years?? Would you donate to a cause like this or not? Tell us!!!
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 20:22:00 +0000
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