'Fremitus' in a dog's femoral artery?

Re: 'Fremitus' in a dog's femoral artery?

Jo Cobbett — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:36:10 GMT

Update...

This dog had an echo last week. She had mild subaortic stenosis and mild AV valve insufficiency, neither of which were considered clinically significant. No further treatment required, but a rescan in 2 years suggested. The fremitus was still present when she was examined by the cardiologist.

Re: 'Fremitus' in a dog's femoral artery?

Jo Cobbett — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 13:13:38 GMT

[quote user="james herriot lied"]

has this dog had any lamenesses in the affected limb, particularly of the medial soft tissue, which might have caused local scarring?

[/quote]

No history of lameness or scarring in this leg, and no palpable abnormalities in this area

[quote user="David Mills"]

HM and reverberating femoral pulses can be associated with aortic stenosis though ESS wouldn't spring (pun intended) immediately to mind. What are your chances of an echo?

[/quote]

Echo booked with a visiting cardiologist... watch this space!

[quote user="alex gough"]

It's possible to induce fremitus in a healthy strong femoral pulse by semi-occluding it - how hard did you squeeze?

[/quote]

It was consistent despite changes in pressure, I felt it for quite a long time at different positions and at different pressures, just to convinve myself I wasn't imagining it!

I'll post again once she's been scanned.

Re: 'Fremitus' in a dog's femoral artery?

Alex Gough — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:13:17 GMT

It's possible to induce fremitus in a healthy strong femoral pulse by semi-occluding it - how hard did you squeeze? If fremitus is present because of light pressure that implies turbulent flow - maybe some weird A-V fistula? My old dog had an A-V fistula in its abdomen caused by a phaeochromocytoma, and you could palpate the thrill by touching his abdomen. If it's unilateral, it seems unlikely to be cardiac in origin.

Alex

Re: 'Fremitus' in a dog's femoral artery?

David Mills — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:12:11 GMT

HM and reverberating femoral pulses can be associated with aortic stenosis though ESS wouldn't spring (pun intended) immediately to mind. What are your chances of an echo?

Re: 'Fremitus' in a dog's femoral artery?

james herriot lied — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:20:38 GMT

Three things, really:

- those of us of a large animal persusasion recognise fremitus in the uterine arteries as a sign of advanced pregnancy, as a result of increased arterial flow, possibly combined with a firm uterus to amplify the vibration. So any altered blood flow might cause the vibration.

- has this dog had any lamenesses in the affected limb, particularly of the medial soft tissue, which might have caused local scarring?

- I would definitely be doing a couple of extra tests on this dog, if only just pro-BNP/troponins to start, and investigate its lungworm status. Down here in Cornwall, weird cardiovascular issues always raise suspicions of lungworm.