ATRIOVENTRICULAR SEPTAL-DEFECTS IN 3 LLAMAS (LAMA-GLAMA)

Two half-sibling neonatal Ilamas (Lama glama) and one unrelated adult Ilama were presented with various complaints, including failure to thr ive, respiratory distress, and excessive recumbency. The related camel ids were born in successive years to the same dam but from unrelated s ires. Thoracic auscultation revealed significant systolic and diastoli c murmurs on both sides of the chest in all three Ilamas, and arterial blood gas evaluation revealed hypoxemia in two Ilamas. Echocardiograp hic examinations revealed large atrioventricular septal (AVS) defects in all three Ilamas. Two Ilamas were euthanized after diagnosis and th e third died 4 mo later. Postmortem examination confirmed large AVS de fects in all animals. There also was marked cardiomegaly in each anima l. The discovery of such a cardiac anomaly in these three camelids sug gests that it may be common in this species and may have a genetic bas is.