Echocardiographic evaluation of four giant Aldabra tortoises (

In recent years echocardiography has become a good diagnostic tool in Zoo Medicine but in some cases, it is still a challenge. In Aldabra giant tortoise ( Repeated measures in vivo. Ultrasonography systematic description and Doppler analysis of the cardiovascular system of Aldabra giant tortoise were carried out; B-mode examination allowed the evaluation of the kinetics of the ventricle, the atria and the atrioventricular valves. 4 Aldabra giant tortoises (two adult males and two young females) hosted in two zoological gardens. Echocardiography was performed placing the animals in ventral on a restraining platform raised from the floor, to provide adequate accessibility to the thoracic windows where the probe was placed. No chemical restraint was used. Heart rate, systolic and diastolic areas and volumes, vessel diameters and blood flow velocity were measured. Heart rate was 21±4 bpm (range 14-25 bpm). The averages of the diastolic and systolic area indexes linked to the subject weight were: 21±3 cm Results confirm the effectiveness of echocardiography as a means to study and evaluate the cardiovascular system of this species even if more studies on a bigger number of patients would be necessary to develop the echocardiography technique.

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© British Veterinary Association 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: None declared.