10/15/2026
Meet Miss Koa! 🐾❤️
This sweet 5.5 year old Havanese came to see us for a cardiac workup after radiographs taken during a pre dental evaluation showed that her heart appeared enlarged.
Koa’s diagnostics confirmed Chronic Valve Disease, Stage B1, meaning she is still in a very early stage of the disease and does not currently have evidence of congestive heart failure or other significant cardiac consequences.
But her echocardiogram also revealed a second, completely unexpected finding: a very small patent ductus arteriosus, or PDA! 🫀
A PDA is a congenital heart defect where a blood vessel that is supposed to close shortly after birth remains open, allowing abnormal blood flow between two major vessels connected to the heart. In many patients, a PDA can place significant strain on the heart and ultimately requires surgical or catheter based intervention.
But Koa got a little lucky! ❤️
Her PDA is exceptionally small, with a shunt that is so trivial that it is not expected to have any meaningful impact on her heart function or quality of life. Because of this, Koa does NOT need surgery! 🎉
She’ll continue to have annual cardiac rechecks so we can keep an eye on both her valve disease and PDA, but for now, we were thrilled to be able to send Koa and her family home with some very good news. 🥰🐾