Canine Megaesophagus - Success Stories

Success Stories....

VIENNA A dear client who owns Vienna's mother and father, mated them and had two litters a year apart. I always thought the mother, a double dapple named Sweet Pea was very cute and I expressed an interest in having one of her puppies if one was a double dapple. Sure enough, the first litter had one but the puppy did not survive. It was felt that the mother had laid on it and it suffocated, but the exact cause of death was not determined. A year went by and Rocky and Sweet Pea produced another litter. There were two double dapple puppies, a male and a female. After a lot of pressure from the owner I agreed to purchase the female.
My wife and I were apprehensive about having a puppy since it had been 13 years since we first acquired our Labrador Retriever as a puppy. We remembered vividly dealing with house training, her chewing and digging, and all the other issues encountered raising a puppy. We decided that we would down size when our Lab died, which surely would not be as difficult. A few days before Christmas I picked up my new puppy and took her home. We thought of a number of different names but Vienna was our favorite (Vienna sausages), so the name stuck. The first night I noticed that our new puppy gurgled a lot and could see that her neck ballooned slightly when she swallowed. She actually did eat solid food and did not regurgitate the food, but at times a food stained liquid did come up. I strongly suspected she had megaesophagus and took her to my clinic the next morning for x-rays. The first radiographs taken were plain film radiographs and appeared to show a dilated esophagus but it was not definitive by itself, so I administered a dose of thick barium sulfate by mouth and immediately took new radiographs. There it was in black and white, literally. My new pup has megaesophagus! Of course I was concerned because the dogs that have been diagnosed in my practice mostly have not done well. Keeping food down has been difficult for some, even when the food is liquefied and the puppy fed from elevated bowls. Many had developed aspiration pneumonia and succumbed to this complication associated with frequent regurgitation. I called my client who had sold me the dog to inform her of the problem that I had discovered. I never once suggested that she take the puppy back, after all, she had spent the weekend at my house and my wife and I had already become attached. Luckily for us and for Vienna, she really never had to be fed elevated but occasionally regurgitated her food. Each year she got better and better. Eventually we never heard the gurgling sounds coming from her esophagus any more and she has thrived ever since. She is now just over 3 years old and appears to have "grown out" of her condition. She is a very sweet dog and will always be Daddy's little puppy.
Some pictures are attached to this e-mail that you might enjoy. The radiographs you should find especially interesting. The white contrast in the films is barium that has not reached the stomach. Normally the contrast would go to the stomach immediately. As you can see in one film the barium remains in the thoracic esophagus and the esophagus is dilated.
In the other, some of the barium has reached the stomach but largely remains in the esophagus. Eventually it will all reach the stomach but as it sits in the esophagus for a prolonged period, the food sours and regurgitation occurs. More often than not, some of the food is aspirated into the trachea and down into the lungs, thus causing aspiration pneumonia. If there is anything to be learned from my experience it would be that a diagnosis of megaesophagus is not a hopeless situation. Some dogs do well but others are not so lucky. Working with support groups such as yours and closely with a veterinarian, many of these dogs can live somewhat reasonable lives. Dan B. Meadows, D.V.M.