ruptured aorta

[elaine barry]

I am trying to find out how many other irish setters have died with a ruptured aorta. My lovely boy Rogan (Jonola Stardom at Lindalloch JW) was taken from me suddenly in 2007 aged just 21 months. Has anyone else had an irish die of this awful condition?

[elaine barry]

Hi Tineke,
I was really sorry to hear about your little girl. I know how awful it is for you and you are in my thoughts,
Elaine x

[elaine barry]

Hi Mel,
thanks as always for your continuing support, I know what happened to the boys upset you as much as it did Debbie and myself. The problem didn't go quiet with any of us, as all three of us have searched over the past couple of years for an answer, but there isn't one. I posted this discussion in a last bid effort to try and find out if there was a problem in the breed and if it is hereditary, as I want Rogans beautiful litter sister Ellie to have a litter. She will be my foundation bitch, so I have to make sure I am doing the right thing for myself and the breed.
I think Debbie and I were just extremely unlucky to have both boys die in this way, and believe we can all look forward to a happier future with our Jonola reds. Elaine x

[Susan Stone]

Carrying on from my thoughts about a possible link between Bloat (GDV), MO and ruptured aorta I've been 'googling' the web for information and I found the following link interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connective_tissue

Some illnesses mentioned under 'connective tissue disorders' are Ehler Danlos with problems of joint, heart valves, organ walls, arterial walls, then Marfan Syndrome and also Systemic Lupus Erythematosus SLE.
For some of these illnesses a genetic background has been found.

[Johanna Blacklake]

"a possible link between Bloat (GDV), MO and ruptured aorta "

This came to my mind also when I went through some articles. At least one form of MO is actually due to a heart desease called PRAA, Persistent Right Aortic Arch, so who knows how these things sometimes link from one thing to another. This was a little bit of an off topic comment!

[Susan Stone]

Looking at the diagram on my earlier post it would seem quite logical that a Persistent Right Aortic Arch can lead to MO symptoms...

To avoid being misunderstood, when mentioning the syndromes described as Ehler Danlos and Marfan Syndrome, I do not mean to say setters are affected by these syndromes, I mentioned them more as examples to show that 'connective tissue disorders' can have many faces and some are known and described in humans as illnesses with a genetic origin.

Sorry Elaine, if we are moving away from your original question. I just feel it is worth keeping a broad view over the health problems in our breed and to ask ourselves if we are really just talking of 'individual problems' experienced by very unfortunate dogs and their owners or if this may be part of a larger picture.
I don't know.