This message is from: Robin Churchill <rbc...@yahoo.com>
From: Beillard <beill...@magma.ca> We have had him ultrasounded twice, Cheryl, What do they say the results of the ultrasounds show? As in people, the prognosis for this horse depends on what the cause of the murmur is. Some people, for example, have what we call innocent murmurs or flow murmurs that don't indicate a structural heart defect and really are of no consequence. These occur more frequently in certain situations and generally children grow out of these. The vet described the murmur as massive, but what did he or she mean by that? The loudness of the murmur is sometimes but not always associated with the severity of the defect. For example when a child has a VSD or ventricular septal defect, the murmur may actually get louder as the hole gets smaller. In other situations, the loudness of the murmur and the phase in which it occurs can be diagnostic of the problem and it's severity. A good pediatric cardiologist, especially an old one can tell what the heart defect is by just listening to a child's heart. The murmur in this young horse is obviously congenital but some of the others who wrote in sound like they have horses with acquired murmurs which may have been the result of endocarditis or infection of the heart or other conditions which would have a different prognosis. If you can take this horse to a university for evaluation or a cardiac specialist, they can probably give you a much better idea of the exact diagnosis and the scope of the problem which will help determine what the long-term prognosis for the horse's condition is and what course you should take. I am sure everyone would be interested in what you find out about this fellow, I certainly am. Best regards, Robin in warmer than usual for this time of year southwest florida ________________________________ Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw FH-L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l
