References
Infective endocarditis in dogs and cats
Abstract
Infective endocarditis is an uncommon cardiac disease, caused by microbial invasion of the endocardium or heart valves. It presents many challenges with respect to diagnosis and effective treatment. This article reviews the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, methods of diagnosis and treatment of bacterial endocarditis in dogs and cats.
Infective endocarditis is a disease that is associated with high morbidity and mortality in both cats and dogs (Miller et al, 2004; Palerme et al, 2016; Reagan et al, 2022). Endocarditis is usually seen in middle-aged to older, large-breed dogs (Sykes et al, 2006). Infective endocarditis in cats is uncommon; two case series exist (Malik et al, 1999; Palerme et al, 2016) but otherwise, the literature is limited to single case reports (Perez et al, 2010; Dixon-Jimenez and Margiocco, 2011; Doyle et al, 2011; Varanat et al, 2012; Vercelli et al, 2019; Brennan et al, 2020; van Loon et al, 2020). The prevalence of canine infective endocarditis reported in referral centres is low (0.04–0.13%), possibly as a result of non-specific clinical signs and difficulty of diagnosis (MacDonald et al, 2004; Sykes et al, 2006). In small animals, the mitral and aortic valves are most commonly affected, and proliferative or erosive lesions often result in valvular insufficiency (MacDonald et al, 2004).
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