Reptiles and Amphibians Q&A 22

This question was provided by Manson Publishing as part of the OVAL Project. See more Reptiles and Amphibians Q&A.

An Australian taipan, one of the world’s most deadly venomous snakes, has a swelling in the region of its heart that is progressively growing so large that swallowing is becoming difficult. Doppler ultrasonic blood-flow detection does not reveal abnormal valvular or vascular sounds.

Question	Answer		Article
What is your tentative diagnosis?	Cardiomyopathy.		Link to Article
What tests or other procedures would you perform to confirm your diagnosis?	An ECG would help differentiate electrical conduction disturbances; a radiograph would reveal the overall size and shape of the heart and disclose the presence of mineralised foci; ultrasonography would demonstrate the size, shape and function of the two atria and single ventricle in real time. In this instance, the diagnosis was cardiomyopathy arising from multiple foci of infection from which Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cultured. It is interesting that in this case the heart sounds arising from blood flow through the heart and over the heart valves were normal; thus, it can be inferred that vegetative endocarditis was not present.		Link to Article