Cardiac disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in dogs and cats and poor performance in horses. We are a team of specialist veterinary cardiologists, working with colleagues across a range of disciplines to address key questions in heart disease.

Our research is focused on four key areas:

1. Myxomatous mitral valve disease (see Mitral Valve Clinic below)
2. Feline cardiomyopathies
3. Interventional cardiology
4. Education and teaching in veterinary cardiology

The Mitral Valve Clinic

The Mitral Valve Clinic at Langford Vets is run by Dr Melanie Hezzell, a specialist veterinary cardiologist with a PhD in the epidemiology of canine myxomatous mitral valve disease. The Mitral Valve Clinic is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of canine myxomatous mitral valve disease. Participating dogs typically attend the clinic every 6 months. At each visit they undergo comprehensive monitoring of their disease, including a full clinical examination, blood pressure measurement, an ECG, an ultrasound of their heart and blood and urine tests. The clinic aims to collect information about how the disease develops and progresses over time, and the factors that determine why some dogs have mild, non-progressive disease while others have a severe, rapidly progressive phenotype.​

The clinic aims to benefit both current patients, by providing heavily subsidised expert monitoring for dogs with mitral valve disease and future patients, by investigating how and why this disease develops and progresses. Our goal is to develop new treatments and therapies that will improve the dogs’ lives. The clinic also nurtures the next generation of veterinary clinical researchers by providing opportunities for veterinary surgeons to undertake Masters by Research and PhD studentships.​

For more information, please contact Melanie Hezzell (mh16511@bristol.ac.uk) or Langford Vets Small Animal Hospital reception (0117 394 0513).

Examples of recent papers:

1. Dickson D, Harris J, Chang CH, Patteson M, Hezzell MJ. Validation of a focused echocardiographic training program in first opinion practice. J Vet Intern Med 2022; (Epub ahead of print).
2. Borgeat K, Shearn AIU, Payne JR, Hezzell MJ, Biglino G. Three-dimensional printed models of the heart represent an opportunity for inclusive learning. J Vet Med Educ 2021 (Epub ahead of print).
3. Borgeat K, Gomart S, Kilkenny E, Chanoit G, Hezzell MJ, Payne JR. Transvalvular pulmonic stent angioplasty: procedural outcomes and complications in 15 dogs with pulmonic stenosis. J Vet Cardiol 2021; 38: 1-11.
4. O’Shaughnessy S, Crawford I, Arsevska E, Singleton D, Hughes D, Noble PJ, Hezzell MJ. Clinical findings associated with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide measurement in dogs and cats attending first opinion veterinary practices. Vet Rec 2021; e945.
5. Kilkenny E, Watson C, Dukes McEwan J, Bode E, Hezzell MJ, Payne JR, Borgeat K. Measurement of cardiac troponin I in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. J Vet Intern Med 2021; 35(5):2094-2101.