Ali Roustaei - Graduate Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Hashemiasl - Department of Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
Bahram Dalir-Naghadeh - Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
Majid Masoudifard - Department of Surgery and Radiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Echocardiography is a non-invasive method of cardiac evaluation in most species. Echocardiographic reference parameters are poorly documented in sheep and not documented in Ghezel sheep. The purpose of this study was to determine reference ranges of normal echocardiographic parameters using two-dimensional and M-mode techniques in Ghezel sheep. In ۱۵ healthy female Ghezel sheep aged between ۱۵ and ۱۸ months, echocardiography was performed in standing position from left and right parasternal approach focused at ۳rd - ۵th intercostal spaces using a ۲.۵۰ - ۵.۰۰ MHz phased array transducer. The following parameters were measured in two-dimensional echocardiography: left atrial diameter (LAD), mitral valve annulus (MVA), aortic sinus (AoS), aortic valve (AoV), pulmonary sinus (PuS), and pulmonary valve (PuV); and in M-mode echocardiography: interventricular septum (IVS), left ventricular internal diameter (LVID), left ventricular free wall (LVFW), right ventricle free wall (RVFW), right ventricle internal diameter (RVID). Calculated variables included the ratios LAD/Ao and Pu/AoS, and the fractional shortening (FS), end diastolic volume (EDV), end systolic volume (ESV), ejection fraction (EF), stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) of the left ventricle. In conclusion, echocardiographic parameters could be reliably assessed in Ghezel sheep and our study provided some normal echocardiographic reference ranges that might be useful in proper identification, visualization, and measurements of cardiac structures. Such findings could be useful to assess and to diagnose the specific heart diseases in sheep practice and also for experimental studies in sheep as an animal model used for research purposes in cardiovascular studies of human.

Echocardiography, Ghezel Sheep, m-mode echocardiography, Two-dimensional echocardiograph