Estimation of Cardiothoracic Ratios in Thoracic Radiographs of the West African Dwarf Goat

Abstract

An enlarged heart almost always indicates the presence of cardiac or pericardial disease. Radiographic assessment is an invaluable and a practical method of evaluating patients with cardiothoracic disease. Cardiac ratios of twelve clinically healthy West African Dwarf Goats (WADGs) were studied. The aim of this research was to estimate reference values for cardiothoracic ratios (CTRs) of normal goats. Cardiac and thoracic diameters were measured in dorsoventral (DV) and ventrodorsal (VD) thoracic radiographs and recorded in centimetres. Means± standard errors of means (M±SEM) cardiothoracic ratios, CTRs, were 0.66±0.02 for DV views and 0.60±0.01 for VD projections. There was significant CTR difference between DV and VD views but the difference between male and female DV CTRs was not significant. CTRs correlated highly and positively with cardiac diameter. For clinical practice, CTRs are easily and objectively applicable in the radiographic evaluation of cardiac sizes.

Keywords: Radiographic measurement, Heart, Thorax, Dorsoventral, Ventrodorsal, Dwarf goats