Proposed Standardization of the Two-Dimensional Echocardiographic Examination in Snakes

The ultrasound examination is a diagnostic tool of choice for ante mortem evaluation of heart diseases. Specific anatomical features of the ophidian heart such as mobility in the coelomic cavity, a single ventricular cavity, a tubular sinus venosus opening into the right atrium, and the presence of three arterial trunks, have direct consequences on the echocardiographic examination. We propose a standardization of the two-dimensional echocardiography in snakes including materials, methods, and transducer positions, approaches and cross-sections based on the approach used for humans or other companion carnivorous mammals. This should improve the veterinarian’s knowledge of ophidian heart diseases and thus contribute to the development of cardiology in reptiles.