University Teaching Hospital, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, Australia.
Vet Med Sci. 2023 Mar;9(2):712-716. doi: 10.1002/vms3.472. Epub 2021 Mar 13.
Aortic valve malformation is a common congenital abnormality reported in human medicine. The malformation is characterised by an increased or decreased number of cusps. Anatomical variations of the aortic valve that have been documented in humans include unicuspid, bicuspid, quadricuspid and quinticuspid valves. Two reports described a quadricuspid aortic valve in horses associated with either a ventricular septal defect (VSD) or tetralogy of Fallot. In this case report we describe the clinical and echocardiographic findings of a horse with a quadricuspid aortic valve as single congenital abnormality, referred with history of exercise intolerance and an episode of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Limitations and risks of misdiagnosis that can be encountered with transthoracic echocardiography are also discussed. The reported case highlights the importance of echocardiographic screening in asymptomatic patients as congenital heart disease can be present without obvious cardiac signs. As advanced imaging on the equine thorax is still far from future possibilities for adult horses, this report may help to reach an accurate diagnosis with similar cases.
主动脉瓣畸形是人类医学中常见的先天性异常。这种畸形的特征是瓣叶数量增加或减少。在人类中已经记录到的主动脉瓣解剖变异包括单瓣、双瓣、三瓣和五瓣。有两份报告描述了马的主动脉瓣四瓣畸形，与室间隔缺损（VSD）或法洛四联症有关。在本病例报告中，我们描述了一匹马的临床和超声心动图表现，该马患有主动脉瓣四瓣畸形，为单一先天性异常，伴有运动不耐受病史和阵发性心房颤动发作。还讨论了经胸超声心动图可能遇到的误诊的局限性和风险。所报告的病例强调了对无症状患者进行超声心动图筛查的重要性，因为先天性心脏病可能没有明显的心脏体征。由于马的胸腔的高级影像学仍然远远落后于成年马的未来可能性，因此该报告可能有助于对类似病例做出准确诊断。
