Surgery for cardiac disease in small animals: Current techniques

The feasibility of surgical correction for almost all canine congenital or acquired cardiac diseases has been demonstrated. Current surgical success rates are remarkably high considering the infrequency with which such procedures are performed. Such results are a testament to the dedication and skill of the various cardiac surgical teams offering these procedures worldwide. However, experience from the medical field indicates that the only way to increase success rates above those presently achieved will be to dramatically increase the frequency with which cardiac surgical teams perform these procedures. Fortunately, lack of case load does not appear to be the limiting factor to such efforts. Rather, lacks of infrastructure and manpower are the major obstacles for expansion of cardiac surgical programs.