The presence and intensity of low-intensity ejection murmurs in boxer puppies are highly variable during growth, without corresponding changes in flow velocities.
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Murmur variability in growing boxers warrants cautious clinical interpretation without inferring flow changes; leaves open EOD utility versus anatomic diameters for stenosis assessment.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence and progression of murmurs and the development of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) and flow velocities in the great arteries in boxer puppies through adolescence until three years of age. METHODS: Nineteen boxer puppies with or without a low-intensity murmur, but without evidence of congenital heart disease, were studied prospectively. Examinations were carried out at 7 weeks, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 36 months of age by cardiac auscultation and Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS: Presence and intensity of heart murmurs varied in the same dog and between dogs, but flow velocities did not change. Estimated effective orifice diameter (EOD) and indexed EOD was significantly narrower than measured subvalvular and valvular diameters. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The variability in presence and intensity of low-intensity ejection murmurs is high during growth in boxers.
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Höglund et al. (2010) studied this question.
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