Pulmonary Hypertension: A Cardiopulmonary Clinical Enigma
1.0 CE Credit Hour / Rebecca Saunders, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Cardiology)
Rebecca Saunders, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Charleston Veterinary Referral Center,
rebeccassaunders@gmail.com
https://www.charlestonvrc.com/staff/rebecca-saunders-dvm-ms-dacvim-cardiology
Dr. Rebecca Saunders grew up in Chicago and attended Washington University in St. Louis for her undergraduate degree in Biology. She then went on to attend veterinary school at the University of Missouri. She completed her small animal medical and surgical rotating internship at The Ohio State University and was then accepted into a cardiology residency at Purdue University.
After completion of her residency in 2018, she practiced as a board-certified cardiologist in St. Louis for 4 years. After visiting Charleston on vacation, she fell in love with the city and knew her heart was pulling her to the South. She happily joined CVRC in December 2022 and is excited to join forces with Dr. Jesty to care for all the Charleston cardiac patients! Her clinical cardiology interests include feline cardiomyopathies, arrhythmia management in dogs and cats, and caring for chronic congestive heart failure patients.
Overview:
Pulmonary hypertension is a relatively common cause of cardiopulmonary symptoms in older dogs, but if often proves difficult to diagnose and medically manage. This session will aim to clarify the details of this clinical enigma by defining pulmonary hypertension including the classifications and causes of the disease as outlined by the 2020 ACVIM Consensus Statement. The echocardiographic findings of PH will be highlighted in addition to other diagnostic tools to utilize when echocardiography is not available. Finally, treatment of each PH classification, long-term monitoring and prognosis will complete the session.
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize presenting signs in a pulmonary hypertension patient
- Identify diagnostic tools used to confirm pulmonary hypertension and elucidate underlying causes
- Develop treatment plans for PH patients including recommended follow up
This course is RACE-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits hours in jurisdictions that accept RACE-approval.
