Postmortem Evaluation of Cardiac Valvular Disease in Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

Abstract

Limited data are available regarding cardiac diseases in birds of prey despite their prevalence in these avian species. Literature regarding valvular lesions in birds of prey is scarce and includes single reports of left atrioventricular valvular endocarditis in an adult, free-ranging, male bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and aortic valvular endocarditis in an adult, free-ranging, female red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, signalment, gross necropsy findings, and histologic lesions of valvular lesions in eagles. In this retrospective study, necropsy reports for 24 free-ranging and captive eagles were evaluated over a 15-year period (July 3, 2006-February 28, 2021). Six (25%; 95% confidence interval: 8.9-58.9) birds, 5 bald eagles and 1 golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), met the inclusion criteria. Five (83.3%) of the 6 birds had valvular degeneration, 2 (33.3%) had endocarditis, and Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from 1 (16.7%) of the endocarditis cases. The 6 eagles with valvular lesions were all captive adults. Four of the birds were female (66.7%), and the aortic and left atrioventricular valves were equally affected. Acute or chronic cerebral infarcts were present in all 6 birds. Valvular cardiac disease should be considered as a differential diagnosis in eagles exhibiting respiratory distress, neurologic signs, syncope, or in cases of sudden death.