Cardiac size appraisals in thoracic radiographs of Nigerian Indigenous dogs: reference guides in clinical practice

The application of radiologic measurement methods has provided very sensitive and more accurate evaluation, compared with subjective assessment, especially in subtle cases of thoracic organ size anomaly. The objective of the study was to determine radiologic ratios for diagnostic and biometric cardiothoracic evaluations in the Nigerian Indigenous Dog. Thirty healthy dogs (average body weight: 8.2 kg; range: 4.0 – 15.6 kg) consisting of equal number of males and females were recruited for the investigation. Sixty dorsoventral versus ventrodorsal thoracic projections of each of the research dogs were acquired. Parameters in each radiograph were objectively evaluated, as follows: thoracic diameter, cardiac diameter in views, cardiac length and cardiac width. Indices generated in the views were the cardiothoracic ratios (CTR) and the cardiac indices (CI). Mean ± standard error of mean CTR and CI values were 0.50±0.01/0.56±0.01 and 0.56±0.01/0.61±0.01, between the opposite views, respectively. These results are objective, reproducible and easily applicable to veterinary clinical practice for radiologic cardiac appraisal.