Shinzō VetCardio

Shinzō VetCardio We serve as a referral center and educational hub for the diagnosis, treatment, and education of cardiovascular diseases in pet animals in Malaysia.

Some statistics on 74 dogs diagnosed with heart failure secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) at our clini...
04/06/2026

Some statistics on 74 dogs diagnosed with heart failure secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) at our clinic 🇲🇾

Facts:

✅ senior dogs
✅ small sized dogs
✅ male > female
✅ Poodle > Shih Tzu > Pomeranian

Dear paw parents in Penang or north Peninsula.We will be visiting Ark Vet Centre, Penang on 1–2 August 2026. Kindly cont...
31/05/2026

Dear paw parents in Penang or north Peninsula.

We will be visiting Ark Vet Centre, Penang on 1–2 August 2026.

Kindly contact the clinic (04-8982323) to check availability and arrange an appointment.

See you soon!

31/5/2026 : Registration is CLOSED Our next webinar is now open for public registration! Veterinarians, veterinary nurse...
30/05/2026

31/5/2026 : Registration is CLOSED

Our next webinar is now open for public registration!

Veterinarians, veterinary nurses, assistants, and students - both Malaysians and non-Malaysians are welcome to join.

Seats are limited to only 200 participants and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Almost half of the seats have been filled.

Fluids: Friend or Foe in Cardio-Respiratory Disease?

📅 14 August 2026 (Friday)
⏰ MYT 2000 – 2130

We are honored to welcome *Dr Yiew Xiu Ting (DVM; DVSc; DACVECC)* as our speaker for this session.

Registration link:
https://forms.gle/3ddVz3XCb82uTPU8A

We would also like to thank our generous sponsor, Arachem (M) Sdn Bhd, for their support.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Presenting a poster at the ACVIM Forum in Seattle in 2 weeks. This epidemiological data is from my own clinic. Compared ...
28/05/2026

Presenting a poster at the ACVIM Forum in Seattle in 2 weeks.

This epidemiological data is from my own clinic. Compared to Western countries, we tend to see smaller-sized dogs, but they present with comparable echocardiographic findings to those reported internationally.

It’s not a breakthrough topic, I reckon, but it’s a good opportunity to network with international cardiologists and learn what’s happening in the field as a representative from Malaysia.

Sometimes we need fresh perspectives to grow, rather than staying too comfortable in our own environment.

两周后,我将前往西雅图参加 ACVIM Forum 的海报展示。

这份流行病学数据来自我自己的诊所。与西方国家相比,我们这里接触到的犬只体型普遍较小,但它们所呈现的超声心动图结果,与国际文献所报道的数据相当接近。

我想这并不是什么突破性的研究课题,但却是一个难得的机会,能够以马来西亚兽医的身份,与国际心脏专科兽医交流,并了解目前领域内的发展趋势。

有时候,人需要跳脱舒适圈,接触不同的观点与思维,才能不断成长。

Public apology accepted.http://xhslink.com/o/An6rpupGIX5Defamation is a serious matter, and I am firm in taking legal ac...
21/05/2026

Public apology accepted.

http://xhslink.com/o/An6rpupGIX5

Defamation is a serious matter, and I am firm in taking legal action by all means necessary to protect my reputation.

I hope pet owners will be more responsible and cautious when sharing allegations or accusations online.

My priority has always been the welfare of my patients and maintaining professional integrity in the work that I do.

Reflection:

The defamatory post was made in August 2025. It took 9 months to finally reach a settlement - not forgetting the legal fees incurred and the time spent throughout the process.

I could have chosen to ignore it and move on with life. However, to set an example that defamation is unacceptable, I decided to proceed without hesitation despite knowing it would be a long journey.

I sincerely hope a lesson was learned. Respect, accountability, and responsibility for one’s words matter, especially in the public space.

Veterinarians are not foes. We are pet owners’ friends, working toward the same goal: the wellbeing of the animals we all care deeply about.

But when someone chooses to engage in malicious attacks and defamation, I will stand firm in protecting my reputation and principles.

本人接受该公开道歉。

诽谤是非常严重的事情。为了维护我的声誉,我坚定采取一切必要的法律行动。

我也希望宠物主人在网络上发表指控或言论时,能够更加谨慎与负责任,并在发言前先核实事实,以免对他人造成伤害。

一直以来,我始终将病患的福利放在首位,并坚持维护自身专业操守与职业道德。

后续:

有关诽谤性的贴文最初发表于 2025 年 8 月。经过长达 9 个月的过程,事情最终才达成和解。这期间所耗费的时间、精神,以及承担的律师费用,都并非一句话能够带过。

我本可以选择忽视,让事情随着时间过去。但为了表明诽谤绝不是可以被轻视或合理化的行为,我选择毫不犹豫地坚持到底,即使明知道这会是一条漫长的路。

我真心希望这次事件能够让人吸取教训。在公开平台上,每个人都应为自己的言论负责任,并保持最基本的尊重与分寸。

兽医并不是宠物主人的敌人。我们其实是站在同一阵线、一起为动物福祉努力的人。

但当有人选择恶意攻击与诽谤时,我也会坚定立场,维护自己的名誉与原则。

“My cat was perfectly healthy. How could he have suddenly succumbed to heart failure?”Cats are exceptionally good at hid...
20/05/2026

“My cat was perfectly healthy. How could he have suddenly succumbed to heart failure?”

Cats are exceptionally good at hiding illness, and some may have underlying heart disease without showing any obvious signs at home. In certain cases, a triggering event can suddenly overwhelm the heart and lead to acute congestive heart failure.

Possible contributing factors include general anaesthesia, fluid therapy, steroidal medication, and extreme stress.

Even with attentive owners and appropriate veterinary care, hidden cardiac disease in cats can sometimes progress unpredictably and present very suddenly. Therefore, it is safer to assess your cat’s heart health before undergoing any procedures especially in middle-aged and senior cats, or high risk cats.

“我的猫咪原本看起来非常健康,为什么会突然罹患心力衰竭?”

猫咪非常擅长隐藏疾病,有些猫即使患有潜在性心脏病,在家中也可能完全没有任何明显症状。在某些情况下,一些诱发因素可能会突然加重心脏负担,进而导致急性充血性心力衰竭。

可能的诱发因素包括全身麻醉、输液治疗、类固醇药物,以及极度紧张或压力。

即使主人十分细心、并接受了适当的兽医治疗,猫咪的潜在性心脏疾病有时仍可能无法预测地恶化,并突然发病。因此,特别是对于中老年猫咪或高风险猫咪,在进行任何医疗程序前,先评估心脏健康会更加安全。

Anesthesia in high-ASA-risk patients, especially those with cardiopulmonary disease, requires a very different level of ...
19/05/2026

Anesthesia in high-ASA-risk patients, especially those with cardiopulmonary disease, requires a very different level of expertise compared to routine general anesthesia for procedures such as dental scaling or neutering.

Beyond standard monitoring such as ECG, blood pressure, SpO₂, and capnography, advanced cases may require invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring, blood gas analysis, meticulous ventilatory management, individualized drug selection, and continuous real-time adjustments throughout the procedure.

Certain anesthetic drugs should be avoided in specific cardiac conditions. Drug selection often depends on cardiac function, pulmonary status, and overall hemodynamic stability, while some agents may be preferred over others in carefully selected patients.

Equally important — yet often overlooked — is post-anesthetic recovery monitoring. In fact, anesthetic-related mortality is highest during the recovery period. Anesthesia is not simply “procedure done, goodbye.” Careful monitoring and support must continue until the patient is truly stable.

There is no single fixed protocol that works for every patient. It is both science and art — balancing perfusion, oxygenation, ventilation, cardiac output, anesthetic depth, and patient safety moment by moment.

对于高 ASA 风险、特别是伴有心肺疾病的病患而言,麻醉管理远比一般洗牙或绝育手术的全身麻醉复杂得多,也更考验麻醉团队的经验与判断能力。

除了常规监测如 ECG(心电图)、血压、SpO₂(血氧饱和度)及 capnography(二氧化碳监测)之外,高风险病例往往还需进行动脉侵入式血压监测、血气分析、精细化呼吸管理,以及依据病患状况量身调整麻醉药物与方案。

在某些心脏疾病中,部分麻醉药物可能并不适合使用;而药物的选择,则需综合考虑心脏功能、肺部状态及整体血流动力学稳定性。有时,同一种药物在不同病患身上,效果与风险也可能截然不同。

此外,术后苏醒期的监护同样极其重要,却经常被忽略。事实上,许多麻醉相关死亡,往往发生在这个关键恢复阶段。因此,麻醉并不是“手术结束就完成了”,而是需要持续监测直到病患真正稳定恢复。

因此,麻醉并不存在所谓“万能公式”或固定流程。它不仅是医学科学,更是一门需要经验与实时判断的艺术 —— 在整个过程中,持续平衡氧合、通气、组织灌流、心输出量、麻醉深度以及病患安全。

Loki, a 8-year-old male Pomeranian, had shown rapidly progressive myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), deteriorating ...
17/05/2026

Loki, a 8-year-old male Pomeranian, had shown rapidly progressive myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), deteriorating from stage C to stage D heart failure within approximately 3 months despite medical therapy. Given the guarded prognosis, the owners consented to transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) as a potential salvage procedure.

A transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) assessment was performed under anesthesia to evaluate mitral valve suitability for TEER. However, the mitral valve pathology and anatomy were considered challenging for successful outcome.

During the TEE, Loki developed severe hypoxemia. Arterial blood gas analysis revealed a PaO₂ of only 43 mmHg, which was critically low and markedly below the expected PaO₂ of >500 mmHg in dogs receiving supplemental oxygen under inhalant anesthesia. Due to the marked anesthetic and cardiopulmonary instability, the TEER procedure was aborted. He recovered from the anesthesia uneventfully and was discharged home.

At this stage, Loki can only be managed conservatively with palliative medical therapy. Unfortunately, the overall prognosis is grave given the rapidly progressive and refractory nature of the heart failure.

Despite the outcome, Loki’s family had pursued every reasonable option available for him, and every effort was made to provide him with the best possible chance. Unfortunately, the severity and rapid progression of his disease ultimately limited further therapeutic options. We hope Loki will continue to have a good quality of life surrounded by the love and comfort of his family for as long as possible.

Loki 是一只 8 岁雄性博美犬,患有快速进展性的黏液样二尖瓣退化性疾病(MMVD)。尽管已积极接受药物治疗,病情仍在约 3 个月内由 C 期心力衰竭迅速恶化至 D 期末期心力衰竭。鉴于预后谨慎,主人同意尝试经导管二尖瓣缘对缘修复术(TEER),作为一种潜在的挽救性治疗方案。

在麻醉下进行了经食道心脏超声(TEE)评估,以进一步判断二尖瓣是否适合进行 TEER。然而,检查结果显示,Loki 的二尖瓣病变程度及解剖结构并不适合进行 TEER 植入,且预期能够带来明显临床改善的可能性较低。

在 TEE 评估过程中,Loki 出现严重低氧血症。动脉血气分析显示,其 PaO₂ 仅有 43 mmHg,属于极度危险水平,远低于接受吸入麻醉并给予补充氧气犬只通常应达到的 >500 mmHg。由于麻醉风险及心肺状态极度不稳定,TEER 手术最终被迫终止。他从麻醉中迅速苏醒,安全回家了。

现阶段,Loki 只能继续接受以舒缓为主的保守治疗。不幸的是,由于心力衰竭进展迅速,且对现有治疗反应有限,整体预后十分严峻。

尽管结果未如预期,Loki 的家人已经为他争取了所有合理且可行的治疗机会,而医疗团队亦尽了最大努力,希望能够为他带来最好的机会。遗憾的是,疾病的严重程度及快速恶化最终限制了进一步治疗的可能性。希望 Loki 能在家人的陪伴、关爱与照顾下,于未来的日子里继续维持尽可能良好的生活质量。

Echocardiography is not just about evaluating heart size and cardiac function. Sometimes, simply applying simultaneous E...
15/05/2026

Echocardiography is not just about evaluating heart size and cardiac function. Sometimes, simply applying simultaneous ECG monitoring during the scan can reveal very useful incidental findings.

In this dog with subaortic stenosis (narrowing around aorta), the ECG (image 1) showed VPC bigeminy — an abnormal rhythm originating outside the heart’s normal electrical “engine” (the sinus node). Interestingly, this was an incidental discovery during echocardiography.

During a VPC, the cardiac cycle is inefficient, so the effective cardiac output of that beat is also reduced (image 2).

Ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) can be associated with both cardiac and non-cardiac conditions. Causes may include structural heart disease, myocardial injury, systemic illness, pain, stress, electrolyte imbalance, gastric dilatation, splenic disease, anaesthesia-related factors, and many others.

This highlights the importance of interpreting arrhythmias within the full clinical context rather than assuming all VPCs are purely cardiac in origin.

Quadricuspid Aortic Valve (QAV) in a poodle.This dog was presented for further cardiac evaluation following congestive h...
11/05/2026

Quadricuspid Aortic Valve (QAV) in a poodle.

This dog was presented for further cardiac evaluation following congestive heart failure secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), as referred by the primary veterinarian. Echocardiography by us revealed a quadricuspid aortic valve in addition to severe MMVD.

While the QAV was an incidental finding, the significant aortic regurgitation is believed to have worsened the left heart dilation, in addition to MMVD.

QAV is an extremely rare congenital cardiac anomaly in which the aortic valve has four cusps instead of the normal three. In humans, its reported incidence is only 0.008–0.033%, while in veterinary medicine, only one article has reported QAV in six dogs. This represents the first case I have encountered.

The abnormal aortic valve structure can lead to poor valve closure, causing aortic regurgitation (blood leaking backward into the left ventricle). Over time, this may result in left ventricular volume overload and cardiac enlargement.

In dogs, it is often an incidental echocardiographic finding, and clinical significance varies. Some remain asymptomatic, while others may develop progressive cardiac changes.

It may also be easily overlooked if careful echocardiographic evaluation of the aortic valve is not performed, particularly when attention is only focused on more obvious mitral regurgitation, without examining other structures of the heart.

A reminder that uncommon congenital anomalies can sometimes hide in plain sight and meticulous imaging makes all the difference.

贵宾犬中的主动脉瓣四叶畸形(Quadricuspid Aortic Valve)

这只狗因黏液样二尖瓣退行性病变(MMVD)继发充血性心力衰竭而被转诊进行进一步心脏检查。超声心动图评估中我们意外地发现了这狗狗除了有严重的MMVD,也有罕见的主动脉瓣四叶畸形。

虽然主动脉瓣四叶畸形属于偶然发现,但其所造成的明显主动脉瓣返流,相信在MMVD之外,也进一步加重了左心扩张。

主动脉瓣四叶畸形是一种罕见的先天性心脏异常,指主动脉瓣具有4个瓣叶,而非正常的3个瓣叶。在人类中的报道发生率仅为 0.008–0.033%;而在兽医医学领域目前仅有 1 篇文献报道了 6 例犬只 QAV 病例。这也是我本人所遇到的首例病例。

异常的瓣膜结构可能导致瓣膜闭合不全,引起主动脉瓣返流(血液在舒张期逆流回左心室)。长期下来,可造成左心室容量负荷增加及心腔扩大。

在犬只中,这通常是超声检查中的偶然发现,其临床意义因个体而异。有些病例终生无明显症状,而有些则可能逐渐出现进行性的心脏结构改变。

如果超声检查时没有仔细评估主动脉瓣结构,这种异常很容易被忽略,尤其当检查重点集中在较明显的二尖瓣返流,而忽视对其他心脏结构进行系统性检查时。

这再次提醒我们:罕见的先天性异常有时就隐藏在眼前,而细致、全面的影像评估往往是发现关键。

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27-2, Jalan PJU 5/4, Dataran Sunway
Petaling Jaya
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