Cardioscopy - endoscopic heart examination

If you need to assess the condition of the chambers, valves and papillary muscles of the heart, Veterinary Hospital Animal Clinic International professionals perform cardioscopy. This is the most informative examination of the animal's heart using a special apparatus - a cardioscope.

When the doctor prescribes a cardioscopy for my pet?

This method of hardware examination is as complex as heart surgery. But thanks to high-tech equipment, our veterinarians perform a cardioscopy as accurately as possible. The examination is necessary if the patient is known to be suffering from a serious heart condition:

• Congenital defect. For example, a defect of the interventricular septum or a hole in the interatrial septum.
• Aneurysm is the result of myocardial infarction and decreased elasticity of the affected tissue: the heart cavity expands. Through cardioscopy, the veterinarian learns the extent of the damage to the heart muscle.
• Myocarditis is a viral or bacterial inflammation of the muscle lining of the heart.
• Cardiomyopathies - pathologies in which damage to the heart muscle is not due to an inflammatory process.
• Endocarditis is a lesion of the valve apparatus by infection. Because of this, holes and purulent foci occur.
• Acquired heart defect. Due to the lesion of the inner lining of the heart, its valves may become narrowed, and valve failure may also develop.

A cardioscopy at our Los Angeles veterinary clinic is performed this way: the animal, which is under general anesthesia, is injected subcutaneously into the bloodstream with a cardioscope.

The veterinarian gently brings the tiny video-recording device to the heart chambers. After a not too long but very informative examination, the animal wakes up under the supervision of the anesthesiologist.