Hi Cindy: I have not had personal experience with ruptured tendons (chordae tendineae), but have had umpteen opportunities to view what they look like on ultrasound/colour doppler. There are many, in fact when I asked Dr. O'Grady how many, he flippantly answered me with I don't know how many. They show up like sketchy lines. Some are larger than others. The analogy given by Dr. O'Grady is to view the chordae tendineae as you would a safety chain on a door.
You wrote: "After the vet checked her over, he said that in his opinion one of the tendons around the mitro valve had ruptured. This would explain the sudden collapse and the weakness she was having... My vet felt that there was really nothing to be done. He said that it could happen again or never happen again." With all due sensitivity to you and your Sabrina, I located a quote from the Atlanta Symposium Transcript. I'm the sort that wants all possible facts presented, therefore I share this as (hopefully) a remote possibility: Sudden Deterioration: Some dogs will progress suddenly from being previously stable. They may develop sudden onset breathing difficulties, as the lungs rapidly fill with fluiod. This often occurs following the rupture of a chordae tendineae. Death may follow despite treatment, although sometimes aggressvie therapy can resolve symptoms (at least for a while). The outlook for these dogs is very poor. In all cases, death may be sudden and at home, or intractable breathing problems (or abdominal fluid accumulation) may necessitate euthanasia on humane grounds. I would be encouraged by the fact that your vet says that Sabrina's heart murmur grading has not changed and that she may very well never have another rupture. Remember, there are LOTS of these tendons. > >If there is anyone out there with knowledge or experience with this please e-mail me with any and all information. > >Thank you very much. > >Cindy Roof >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >========================================================= >"Magic Commands": >to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL >to start it up gain click here: >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL > > E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. >Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html > >All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author. > > Pat Barrington - Barrington Cavaliers (Southern Ontario-Canada) [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
