Key result
Vertebral heart size in clinically normal puppies remained stable from 3 to 36 months of age (ranging from 9.8 to 10.3 vertebrae) with no significant differences detected during growth.
Why the study?
Does relative heart size change with growth in clinically normal puppies?
Observational (n=11)
Does relative heart size change with growth in clinically normal puppies?
p-value: p=Not significant
Vertebral heart size measurements in puppies are within the reference range for adult dogs and do not change significantly with growth up to 3 years of age.
Supports applying adult VHS norms to puppies; extends prior data but leaves open validation in disease cohorts.
OBJECTIVE: To determine relative heart size in clinically normal puppies and assess whether relative heart size changes with growth. DESIGN: Prospective radiographic study. ANIMALS: 11 puppies without evidence of disease. PROCEDURE: Standardized measurements of the long and short axes of the heart, midthoracic vertebrae, and other structures were made at 3, 6, 12, and 36 months of age. Measurements were recorded in millimeters and number of thoracic vertebral lengths spanned by each dimension, measured caudally from T4 on lateral radiographic views. The long and short axis measurements of the heart, expressed in vertebral lengths, were added to yield vertebral heart size. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD vertebral heart sizes on lateral radiographic views at 3, 6, 12, and 36 months of age were 10.0 +/- 0.5, 9.8 +/- 0.4, 9.9 +/- 0.6, and 10.3 +/- 0.6 vertebrae, respectively. Significant differences were not detected. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Vertebral heart size measurements in puppies are within the reference range for adult dogs (9.7 +/- 0.5 vertebrae) and do not change significantly with growth to 3 years of age. Standards for determining cardiac enlargement are similar in puppies and adult dogs.
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J. W. Buchanan (2001) conducted an observational in Clinically normal puppies (n=11). Growth (age 3 to 36 months) was evaluated on Vertebral heart size on lateral radiographic views (p=Not significant). Vertebral heart size in clinically normal puppies remained stable from 3 to 36 months of age (ranging from 9.8 to 10.3 vertebrae) with no significant differences detected during growth.
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