Congestive heart failure (CHF) is not a disease but the end point of many heart diseases: venous pressure rises high enough that fluid leaks into the lungs or a body cavity. In dogs the usual culprit is myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) a distant second.
Key facts
Congestive heart failure at a glance- Species and system: dog; cardiovascular, with respiratory signs from left-sided failure.
- Main causes: MMVD (about 75% of canine heart disease seen in North American practices), DCM, congenital shunts and outflow obstructions; pericardial disease and pulmonary hypertension for right-sided failure.
- Classic presentation: older small-breed dog with a loud left apical murmur, rising resting respiratory rate, dyspnea and cough; or a large-breed dog with DCM, arrhythmia and weak pulses.
- Confirming test: thoracic radiographs (marked left atrial enlargement with pulmonary edema, usually caudodorsal in dogs); echocardiography identifies the cause.
- Core therapy: loop diuretic, pimobendan, ACE inhibitor and spironolactone, plus oxygen in the acute crisis.
- Not zoonotic, not reportable.
What's inside
12 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prevention, control and public health
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 7 tables, 3 figures, 3 self-test questions and 22 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
The full guide is part of every NAVLE plan, with diagnosis and treatment tables, figures, a quick review and self-test questions. Start a free trial to try the question bank, or log in if you are already a member.