Computed Radiographic Studies on the Vertebral Heart Score in German Shepherd Dogs with Haematological and Serum Biochemical Correlations

Abstract

Computed radiographic (CR) studies were conducted to determine the Vertebral Heart Score (VHS) in 18 clinically healthy German Shepherd dogs divided into three age groups viz. group-I (< 6 months), group-II (7-12 months) and group-III (>12 months) with six animals in each. They were subjected to thoracic radiography in left lateral, right lateral and dorsoventral views to estimate the cardiac size both with inbuilt Veterinary specific software and by manual measurements. There was no significant increase in the size of the heart among the three age groups as observed on the three views. Higher VHS values were observed on the right lateral projection than on left lateral projection in both CR and manual methods in all the three age groups and the values were not influenced by age. The manual VHS values were higher compared to the CR values in both lateral views. There was no correlation between the body weight and the VHS values in all the three age groups. The haematological and serum biochemical values evaluated to ascertain their health status were all within the normal reference range in all the three age groups.