Veterinary Specialty Center, Bannockburn, IL.
Great Ape Heart Project, Royal Oak, MI.
Am J Vet Res. 2023 May 29;84(7). doi: 10.2460/ajvr.23.02.0021. Print 2023 Jul 1.
To establish an echocardiographic technique and 2-dimensional reference parameters for southern stingrays (Hypanus americanus). A second objective was to compare echocardiographic measurements obtained from animals of different sex, size, environment, handling technique, and position.
84 presumed healthy, wild, semiwild, and aquarium-housed southern stingrays.
Animals, anesthetized and manually restrained, were positioned in dorsal recumbency, and echocardiography was performed. A subset of this population was also imaged in ventral recumbency for comparison.
Echocardiography was feasible, and reference parameters were established for this species. While some standard measurements could not be assessed due to body habitus, all valves, chambers, and the conus were clearly visualized in the majority of animals. Statistical significance was reached for some variables when comparing animals from different environments and handling methods, but these differences were not considered clinically relevant. The data were therefore separated into 2 subsets of echocardiographic reference parameters based on disc width since some of the measurements were dependent on body size. This approach mostly separated the sexes due to strong sexual dimorphism.
Limited information is available regarding cardiac disease in elasmobranchs; most of the available information on cardiac physiology focuses on a few shark species. Two-dimensional echocardiography is a noninvasive tool utilized to evaluate cardiac structure and functionality. Southern stingrays are one of the most commonly displayed elasmobranchs in public aquaria. This article expands on the growing body of information regarding veterinary care in elasmobranchs and provides clinicians and researchers with another diagnostic modality to utilize in screening for health/disease.
建立南方黄貂鱼（Hypanus americanus）的超声心动图技术和二维参考参数。第二个目的是比较不同性别、大小、环境、处理技术和体位的动物的超声心动图测量值。
84 只被认为健康的野生、半野生和水族馆饲养的南方黄貂鱼。
麻醉并手动约束动物，使其处于仰卧位，进行超声心动图检查。该人群的一部分也被成像为仰卧位，以进行比较。
超声心动图是可行的，并为该物种建立了参考参数。虽然由于身体形态，有些标准测量无法评估，但在大多数动物中，所有瓣膜、心室和圆锥都清晰可见。当比较来自不同环境和处理方法的动物时，一些变量达到了统计学意义，但这些差异被认为不具有临床意义。因此，根据盘宽将数据分为两组超声心动图参考参数，因为一些测量值取决于身体大小。这种方法主要是由于强烈的性别二态性而将性别分开。
有关软骨鱼类心脏病的信息有限；关于心脏生理学的大部分可用信息都集中在少数几种鲨鱼物种上。二维超声心动图是一种用于评估心脏结构和功能的非侵入性工具。南方黄貂鱼是公共水族馆中最常展示的软骨鱼类之一。本文扩展了有关软骨鱼类兽医护理的不断增长的信息，并为临床医生和研究人员提供了另一种诊断模式，用于筛查健康/疾病。
