Cardiology Clinics

Veterinary Surgeon, Oliver Garrod, runs cardiology clinics at the hospital every Monday morning.

He sees pets that have been referred to him because they have shown the symptoms of heart related conditions, for example murmurs, collapse, breathlessness, exercise intolerance.

Oliver uses a range of diagnostic equipment and techniques for assessing heart function:

• Radiography (x-ray) is used for the diagnosis of congestive heart failure (fluid in the lungs). Radiography allows Oliver to see the size of the heart in proportion to the chest, so that he can check whether or not the heart has become enlarged.

  It is also used to monitor the response to treatments.

• High or low blood pressure can be another sign of heart disease and Oliver will therefore use the Blood Pressure Monitor.

• The ECG monitor checks the electrical activity of the heart and will show any rhythm disturbance.

  For more complex rhythmic problems, Oliver has access to a 24 hour ECG Holter monitor which allows him to monitor the heart rhythms over a longer period of time.

• Ultrasound scanning is used to look at blood flow, heart wall and chamber size, valve appearance and blood flows through them. It is important in finding the actual problem with the heart that is causing the clinical signs.