Insuficiência cardíaca em psittaciformes: revisão de literatura

Abstract

Birds from the Order Psittaciformes are frequently maintained in captivity, in which there are several conditions that in the absence of proper care may predispose them to diseases. Hence, this study aimed to review information on cardiac arrest in psittacine, discussing the associated pathological conditions, diagnostic tools and treatments. In recent decades, researches have demonstrated that captive psittacine have presented elevated frequencies of cardiovascular alterations, which are diagnosed mostly via post-mortem findings. The main reported conditions in this system are atherosclerosis, myocardial dysfunction and congestive heart failure. Reports describing ante-mortem identification and treatment of birds with these conditions are scarce. Hence, failed diagnoses may be occurring in many cases due to factors concerning the difficult evaluation of the avian circulatory system, the unspecific clinical signs and concurrent associated conditions. This fact is observed clearly among Brazilian studies, in which there are scarce papers on this subject. However, in consonance with the increased reports of cardiac alterations, methods of diagnostic that are often used already have reference values for the main psittacine maintained as pets. Among these, radiography, electrocardiography and Doppler echocardiography are included. Currently, there are scarce studies describing pharmacokinetics of drugs used in birds with cardiovascular diseases. However, empirical doses are described for psittacine in a small number of reports. Some of these show a maximum survival period of 5 years with varied results. Treatment of heart failure in psittacine also includes the elimination or reduction of possible predisposing factors, such as sedentarism and unbalanced diet with elevated rates of fatty acids. These characteristics are very common in management programs of captive birds. Undergoing studies aim to relate these factors with cardiovascular diseases in Psittaciformes, considering that most of the knowledge comes from human medicine. In conclusion, despite the difficulties in clinical diagnosis, there is support for the ante-mortem detection of cardiovascular conditions in pet birds, which is increasingly more frequent in current veterinary routine. However, the treatment for cardiac conditions still depends on specific studies with psittacine on pharmacokinetics, effectiveness and adverse effects of drugs used in this system. These data are necessary in order to provide adequate treatment for diagnosed birds and to further improve therapeutic results.