FORT COLLINS - Colorado State University's veterinary teaching hospital operated successfully on seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong's dog. Rex had heart valve replacement surgery.
The surgery was done in late August by CSU's cardiac surgery team lead by Dr. Chris Orton. The 9-month old yellow Lab was released Monday.
Rex was born with a defective heart valve that was causing physical limitations and putting him at risk for an early death from heart failure.
"This surgery offers Rex the possibility of a lifelong cure, as long as the prosthetic valve continues to function well and does not develop complications such as blood clots," Orton said. "Rex will have to be monitored carefully for the next several months, but he should be able to live a normal life. Right now, he sure doesn%2't look like a dog that just had heart surgery. He is doing great."
Orton heads up the cardiac surgery team at the hospital, the only animal cardiac surgery program of its kind in the United States. Orton and his team have performed more than 100 open-heart surgeries in the past 10 years.
Rex received an artificial heart valve made from cow tissue. During the five hour surgery, the new valve was placed in Rex's heart while his blood was circulated through a heart-lung machine, then his heart was re-started. The surgical team took him off the heart-lung machine and monitored him in the surgical suite for the critical first two hours. Rex then was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit, where he was closely monitored for the next 72 hours.
Orton said that Rex is through the most critical stages of the procedure. He will remain on blood thinners for the next three months and will undergo several checkups by a veterinary cardiologist.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death among dogs. Orton and his team at Colorado State began conducting open-heart surgeries in 1991, debunking conventional wisdom that the surgery fails in canines. Orton began replacing valves in dogs in 1997.
Armstrong has had a busy summer besides his dog's surgery. He won his seventh straight Tour De France, got engaged to rocker girlfriend Sheryl Crow and battled further accusations of performance enhancing drug use.
After flirting with the idea of continuing to train and riding in the 2006 Tour De France, Armstrong made clear he intends to remain retired.
