Comparison of echocardiographic variables of mitral regurgitation severity to cardiac computed tomography in dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease.

Volumetric echocardiography best estimates mitral regurgitation severity in dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease.

This comparative study evaluated echocardiographic methods for quantifying mitral regurgitation severity against cardiac computed tomography in 20 dogs with stage B2 degenerative mitral valve disease. Three echocardiographic techniques were assessed: proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA), pulsed-wave Doppler (PWD), and volumetric methods from right parasternal long-axis and apical four-chamber views. Results demonstrated that volumetric echocardiographic methods showed stronger correlation (r=0.69, P<0.001) and concordance with CT-derived regurgitant volume compared to PISA and PWD methods. Notably, PISA failed to achieve significant correlation with CT measurements. Additionally, multiple echocardiographic indices including normalized left atrial dimension, left atrial volume, end-diastolic left ventricular volume, vena contracta width, and velocity time integral ratio of transmitral to aortic valve flow correlated significantly with both regurgitant volume and regurgitant fraction. The study acknowledged differences in anesthetic protocols between imaging modalities as a potential confounding variable. These findings support volumetric echocardiographic assessment as the most reliable non-invasive method for mitral regurgitation severity evaluation in dogs.

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