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<DIV><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">"Some times heart murmers don’t progress and stay at a certain level and that is the best you can hope for. They usually do progress as the dog gets older and that is exactly what has happened with Sammi. "<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></EM></DIV>
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<DIV>Again, heart murmurs don't progress, heart disease progresses and may cause a murmur to become more pronounced. Murmurs are graded 1-6 based on how loud they are, but nothing is treated based on just a murmur. Some diagnostic assumptions can be made on the type and location of the murmur - crescendo-decrescendo, washing machine, midsternal, upper sternal border (or the matching places on the canine body), but without studies, it does not tell you exactly what is going on with the heart itself. If your hound has a murmur it just means YOU need to ask more questions about the type, the actual diagnosis and treatment. </DIV>
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<DIV>Heart failure is also a symptom of heart disease - is it from cardiomyopathy, aortic stenosis, mitral regurgitation? Different causes require different treatments - medications to control the heart rate, increase cardiac output, decrease blood pressure (afterload), improve contractility, rhythm stablilzers....treating the wrong cause will actually worsen the problem.</DIV>
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<DIV>So your hound with a murmur may or may not have heart disease - the heart disease is the cause for concern.</DIV>
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<DIV>So ends Cardiology 101.</DIV>
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<DIV>Synthia</DIV>
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<DIV><EM><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~Albert Einstein</FONT></EM><BR><BR></DIV></DIV>
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