Long-term Serial Echocardiographic Evaluation of Holstein Dairy Heifers with Bacterial Endocarditis

Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed on two Holstein dairy heifers with bacterial endocarditis to investigate changes in the echocardiographic features of vegetations and to observe alterations in clinical signs. At first examination, all vegetations revealed already hyper-echoic masses. Thereafter, vegetation echogenicity tended to increase gradually. In addition, vegetative lesions demonstrated acoustic shadows that appeared more intense during observations. In one vegetation, lesion smoothing and contraction were observed. These findings showed that vegetative lesions were in the organizing process at the beginning of observation and that mineralization progressed gradually as organization advanced. Clinical and laboratory findings failed to recognize this as a conspicuous abnormality, thus supporting our interpretation and confirming pathological findings. Apparently, the vegetation echocardiographic features observed in this study were consistent with the resolution of the infection.