CLINICAL FEATURES AND RISK FACTORS OF EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF ATRIOVENTRICULAR VALVE DEGENERATION IN DOGS
The study of cardiovascular diseases in small domestic animals is an urgent problem of modern veterinary medi-cine. The research goal is to develop a science-based ap-proach to the clinical picture and risk factors of the emer-genceand development of atrioventricular valve degenera-tion in dogs. The study was conducted in the Department of Biology and Pathology of Small Domestic, Laboratory and Exotic Animals of the Moscow State Academy of Vet-erinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after K.I. Skryabin. The research targets were 162 dogs with myx-omatous degeneration of atriovetricular valves. Myxoma-tous degeneration of the valvular heart apparatus was more often found in dogs of the age of 7 to 10 years -61.7%. The cases were most often diagnosed in dogs of the breeds Chihuahua -29.63%, and Yorkshire Terrier-21%. Of the total number of animals, the disease was more common in males -69.14%. Clinical signs of myxomatous degeneration of the valvular heart apparatus in dogs were diverse. The objective diagnostic clinical signs of myxoma-tous degeneration of the mitral valve of the heart in dogs were the following: cough (53%), sudden lethargy (48%), dyspnea (26%); less frequently -weight loss (12%), loss of consciousness (2.21%) and ascites (0.74%). The main clinical signs of tricuspid valve damage were the following ones: cough (57.14%) and ascites (42.86%). Dyspnea and loss of consciousness were less common (14.29%). With a combined damage of the mitral and tricuspid valves, the clinical picture was more pronounced. The most common symptoms were cough (84.21%), dyspnea (73.68%), and sudden lethargy (63.16%). The clinical substantiation for the development of myxomatous degeneration of the valvu-lar heart apparatus in dogs is the following factors: age, breed and sex of the animal. The clinical signs and differ-ential diagnostic criteria were characterized by polymor-phism and differed in cases of mitral and tricuspid valve lesions and their joint degeneration.