ABSTRACT
DIAGNOSIS Diagnosis is based on auscultation findings. The diagnosis could be confirmed ultrasonographically in valuable calves.
EXAMINATION OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM The rate, rhythm and intensity of heart sounds are determined by auscultation over the chest in the region immediately beneath the elbow joints. It is essential to listen to both sides of the chest because unilateral spaceoccupying lesions in the cranial thorax frequently displace the heart, leading to marked disparity in the intensity and origin of the heart sounds. The heart rate of neonatal calves may approach 120 beats per minute; older calves and adult cattle have a heart rate between 60 and 80 beats per minute. Handling and other stresses may increase the heart rate by more than 50%, but it returns to normal within 5-10 minutes. Coccygeal, femoral and brachial pulses are easily found in cattle.
