Abstract
A 13-year-old Brazilian warmblood gelding arrived at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Parana presenting a murmur on cardiac auscultation. At physical evaluation, an IV/VI intensity holosystolic heart murmur was heard. Due to this clinical sign, an echocardiogram examination was performed, which showed supracrystal interventricular communication, quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) and, in Doppler evaluation, aortic reflux was noted and turbulent flow. Similar cardiac anomalies have been described in humans, hamsters, dogs, cats and shrews. However, there is only one case report in a horse and in which the equine had QAV and ventricular septal defect (VSD). Despite the congenital heart defects, the animal had no obvious signs of heart failure.
Highlights
The quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) is a rare congenital malformation in all animal species
The first cases of quadricuspid aortic valve were diagnosed in autopsy exams, currently the diagnosis can be made in an early stage, by means of a transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography (Konrad et al, 2009; Yuan, 2016)
A similar case was described by Michlik et al, in which QAV and ventricular septal defect (VSD) were discovered through echocardiographic examination that was requested due to the detection of pansystolic murmur in a pre-anesthetic examination for elective orchiectomy
Summary
The quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) is a rare congenital malformation in all animal species. Quadricuspid aortic valve and supracrystal interventricular communication in a Brazilian equestrian horse. It is not common to perform an echocardiography in horses, especially in animals that do not show evident signs of heart disease. A 13-year-old Brazilian warmblood gelding equestrian horse arrived at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Paraná presenting a murmur on cardiac auscultation. In Doppler evaluation, the aortic valve proved to be insufficient (Figure 2) Another echocardiographic finding was a supracrystal interventricular communication (Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5). The horse did not show any evident clinical signs of heart failure, such as exercise intolerance, weakness or dyspnea
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