Recently featured in ‘The Shropshire Star’, Royal Brompton’s expertise is put to unlikely but heart-warming use in Shropshire after Lottie the Labrador was diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect.

Lottie, the 10-month-old black Labrador has been diagnosed with a serious Atrial Septal Defect, a condition which is not uncommon amongst babies and is frequently referred to Royal Brompton. The Atrial Septum is the wall of tissue and muscle between the two chambers of the heart and whilst a small hole in this wall is fairly common, the condition can be more serious with some cases requiring open heart surgery to repair the gap. Lottie’s void is so severe that there is virtually no wall between the two atriums, this means that there is a significant mixing of oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood, forcing her heart and lungs to work incredibly hard just to keep her alive.

Lottie’s owners, Pauline Daley and her husband Paul, who live in Malpas near Whitchurch, took her to the Royal Veterinary College in London. Where they began researching the possibility of performing the same operation on Lottie as Royal Brompton does on infants. They have been in close contact with the medical staff at Brompton Paediatric Unit who have been advising the Royal Veterinary College on the process of using Gore-Tex material to construct a replacement Atrial Septum.

Although this has been refined when it comes to treating infants, it has never been attempted on a dog before. Yet the owners and the vets feel hopeful that it will be successful and will pioneer new research into the treatment of heart conditions in dogs and other animals.

Lottie is booked in for surgery on the 30^th of July and we wish her all the best. 

Do you want to help to support the pioneering work of staff at our two hospitals? Then why not get involved in one of our upcoming events?