Cardiology

The Cardiology Service offers a friendly and comprehensive canine and feline referral service to veterinary surgeons in general practice.

Clinics are run daily from Monday to Thursday and offer clients excellent customer service, with repeat check-ups where needed. Where possible we try to ensure that clients are seen by the same person at the time of re-check examination. Furthermore we maintain close communication with referring veterinary surgeons by means of a discharge form faxed to the referring clinic at point of discharge. An emergency service available at all other times.

The service is supervised by four Diploma holding members of academic staff (all are internationally recognised specialists in Cardiology). Residents work under direct supervision whilst studying to obtain post­graduate qualifications. One or more Diploma holding academics will always be “on the clinic floor” supervising all the cases that pass though the service so even if your client is not directly seen by an academic we can guarantee that the assessment of your client's pet will have been overseen by a Diploma holding specialist.

Clients can expect to have full investigations of their pets' problems. Cardiology patients are often admitted to the hospital for further investigation, although in many cases it is possible for animals to return home later in the same day. Cardiovascular investigation often includes radiography, ECG and echocardiography. The Cardiology Service forms part of the team at the QMHA now offering intracardiac surgery under cardiac bypass for correction of congenital heart disease, with facilities unrivalled in the UK. In conjunction with the Soft Tissue Service, we also offer palliative management of recurrent pericardial effusions via thoracoscopy. We are rapidly expanding our interventional caseload and are happy to take referrals for treatment of valvular stenosis using balloon valvuloplasty and non-invasive management of patent ductus arteriosus using state of the art canine Amplatz devices. In association with the Emergency and Critical Care team we are pleased to offer a full Cardiology Emergency Service including permanent pacemaker implantation, management of acute heart failure including inotropic and vasomodulatory support and treatment of severe arrhythmias including synchronous DC electrical cardioversion.

Facilities

Diagnostic facilities include:

• Doppler echocardiography, including Tissue Doppler Imaging
• Management of acute heart failure patients in conjunction with the staff in our intensive therapy unit
• Ambulatory ECG (Holter) monitoring
• Implantable loop monitor placement
• Cardiac catheterisation, including digital subtraction angiography and intracardiac pressure measurements
• CT scanning
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Doppler blood pressure analysis

Treatment Facilities Include:

• Non-invasive transthoracic temporary pacing
• Permanent pacemaker implantation and programming
• DC electrical cardioversion
• Balloon valve dilation
• PDA device closure

Clinical Trials

See Clinical Investigation Centre for details of current trials.

Key Clinicians

• Clinical Services Home

QMHA

• QMHA Home
• Contact
• Clients
• Referrals
• Facilities
• Specialities
  • Anaesthesia
  • Behaviour
  • Cardiology
  • Dermatology
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Emergency and Critical Care
  • Internal Medicine
  • Neurology
  • Nutritional Support
  • Oncology
  • Orthopaedics
  • Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation
  • Soft Tissue Surgery
• Staff

See also

• Beaumont Animals' Hospital
• Clinical Investigation Centre
• Animal Care Trust (ACT)
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Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Accredited Practice Small Animal Hospital