Surgeons Save Dog with Rare Heart Defect

A Methodist DeBakey Heart Center surgeon recently assisted in a rare, mitral-valve repair of a 4-month-old dog, in collaboration with the Texas A&M University veterinary college.

Dr. George P. Noon, executive director of The Methodist Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine MultiOrgan Transplant Center, assisted in the rare canine cardiac case. Dr. Noon is the co-developer of the MicroMed DeBakey Ventricular Assist Device and has partnered with Texas A&M in the past to further his cardiovascular research. On March 20, Dr. Noon and Texas A&M surgeons operated on a Vizsla (a Hungarian Pointer dog) named Bowie, from Arkansas.

The dog’s mitral valve, which regulates blood flow between the heart’s left atrium and left ventricle, was not functioning properly, seriously threatening his life. Bowie had a congenital heart condition, diagnosed when he was nine weeks old, known as mitral valve dysplasia, which is similar to a leaky valve syndrome seen most frequently in older dogs. He was given less than a 50 percent chance of surviving long enough to have the procedure.

In 1999, The Michael E. DeBakey Institute for Comparative Cardiovascular Science and Biomedical Devices was established at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University to facilitate such procedures.

"I was happy to assist and offer my expertise to the College of Veterinary Medicine, our new partners," Dr. Noon said. "It was quite different than operating on a human because a dog’s anatomy is so much smaller and so complicated."

Bowie is recovering well after being discharged from the small animal hospital, and will receive follow-up veterinary examinations to monitor his progress.

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