Echocardiographic and Radiographic Parameters in 20 Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor)

The establishment of reference cardiologic parameters has gained importance in recent years due to an increased recognition of the role cardiovascular disease plays in avian morbidity and mortality. However, baseline cardiac parameters for lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) have yet to be fully evaluated. This study was performed to evaluate and generate baseline cardiac measurements for lesser flamingos. Echocardiographs and radiographs were opportunistically performed on 23 unsedated lesser flamingos (13 males, 10 females). All birds were manually restrained for cardiac evaluation, and echocardiographic dimensions, functional indices, and radiographic images were collected. Cardiocoelomic width ratios were determined via radiographic measurements when positioning was deemed adequate. Reference materials were established for aortic velocity, left ventricular diastolic length, left ventricular systolic length, left ventricular width in end-diastole, left ventricular width in end-systole, fractional shortening percentage, cardiac silhouette width, thoracic width, and cardiocoelomic ratio. The mean ± SD was calculated for each parameter: aortic velocity (0.8 0.27 m/s), left ventricular diastolic length (25.2 4.20 mm), left ventricular systolic length (17.8 4.64 mm), left ventricular width in end-diastole (8.9 15.4 mm), left ventricular width in end-systole (6.8 1.61 mm), fractional shortening percentage (29.4 9.11%), cardiac silhouette width (34.8 2.69 mm), thoracic width (67.3 4.91 mm), and cardiocoelomic ratio (51.7 4.02%). No significant associations (all P > 0.05) were noted for the echocardiographic dimensions, functional indices, or cardiocoelomic width ratios by age or sex. However, significant associations (all P < 0.05) were observed with body weight. Cardiac pathology was detected in 3 individuals; thus, these birds were excluded from the final results (n = 20 animals; 12 males, 8 females). While this study provides baseline parameters for lesser flamingos, owing to the limited number of individuals, further cardiac evaluation of this population is warranted.