Survival of dairy cattle following treatment of idiopathic pericardial hemorrhage with parenteral dexamethasone or isofluprednone acetate

A limited number of individual case reports and small retrospective studies have described idiopathic pericardial effusion in dairy cattle. Affected cattle develop acute signs of cardiac failure and tamponade, with distended and poorly compressible jugular and mammary veins, edema, mildly muffled heart sounds, and a sudden drop in production and appetite. In contrast to other forms of cardiac disease, this condition appears to have a more favorable prognosis in terms of reproductive and lactational productivity and longevity. The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare the survival of dairy cows with presumptive idiopathic pericardial effusion that were treated with dexamethasone with those that were treated with isofluprednone acetate.