A Rare Case of Bicuspid Aortic Valve in a German Shepherd Dog

A bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) was diagnosed in a 9-year-old male German shepherd dog with the history of profound weakness, exercise intolerance and fever. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed aortic valve cusps an horizontal position indicating Type 2 bicuspid aortic valve morphology without median raphae, based upon the human classification. The ascending aorta and aortic root were dilated. Aortic regurgitation was also detected by continuous-wave and color-flow Doppler echocardiography. Moderate left ventricular hypertrophy with left ventricular dysfunction was also detected. Blood assays indicated septicemia which recovered after empirical antibiotic therapy. Enalapril was given for supporting the heart's ability to cope with left ventricular dysfunction, by decreasing both afterload and preload. The animal showed recovery with normalization of fever while aortic regurgitation still persisted after 8 months from the start of treatment. To the best of the authors' knowledge, BAV is a rarely reported cardiac anomaly in dogs.