Resident wins national group’s ultrasound abstract award
Dr. Elodie Huguet, a resident with the UF Veterinary Hospital’s diagnostic imaging service, has received the American College of Veterinary Radiology’s Ultrasound Abstract Award for her study comparing thoracic radiographs with echocardiography for detecting cardiac chamber enlargement in dogs.
“Echocardiography is considered the gold standard to evaluate the cardiac chambers in veterinary patients, but is operator dependent and not always available,” she said. “Therefore, thoracic radiographs are commonly used to identify and monitor cardiomegaly in dogs.”
While distinct cardiac chambers cannot be visualized on radiographs, changes to the cardiac silhouette may suggest that one or multiple cardiac chambers are enlarged, Huguet added.
To determine if radiography is a reliable modality for the evaluation of canine cardiomegaly, her study aimed to compare the subjective grading of individual cardiac chamber enlargement on thoracic radiographs to quantitative echocardiographic measurements in dogs.
Based on the data collected, she concluded that thoracic radiographs should be used with caution for the evaluation of cardiac chamber enlargement in dogs, particularly in the presence of severe left-sided cardiomegaly. She is currently working on a manuscript to submit for publication.