Congenital coronary-pulmonary arterial shunt in a German shepherd dog: Diagnosis and surgical correction

BackgroundA 10 week-old intact female German shepherd dog was examined because of a heart murmur.MethodsAn echocardiogram revealed an extracardiac left-to-right shunt. An angiogram identified shunting between the aorta and the pulmonary artery in an unusual location.ResultsThoracotomy was performed to better identify and correct the lesion; a tubular shunt between the left coronary artery and the pulmonary artery was found and ligated in a closed-heart procedure. The murmur resolved immediately upon ligation and the dog’s heart size normalized over a period of several months after surgery.ConclusionIn the dog, surgical correction of a coronary artery-pulmonary artery shunt can be performed without complications and can be associated with reversal of cardiac remodeling.