Arizona Veterinary Internal Medicine, PLLC

Cardiology Home

Arizona Veterinary Internal Medicine is a specialty referral practice dedicated to providing your pet with the highest quality of cardiology and internal medicine services available. With discoveries relating to animal health growing each year at a phenomenal rate, there has been an increase in veterinarians that choose to pursue extensive post-graduate training and become board-certified in their chosen field. Veterinary cardiology is one of eighteen specialties recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are fewer than 130 board-certified veterinary cardiologists in the world, and we are pleased to have one here at Arizona Veterinary Internal Medicine - Dr. Whit Church.

Dr. Church’s philosophy centers on the belief that symptoms of heart disease are treatable. His mission is to help referring veterinarians provide high quality health care to their patients, and he derives satisfaction by successfully managing cardiac conditions in treated patients. With the advancements in cardiac medication, and the help of dedicated owners and their referring veterinarians, cardiac patients can enjoy a high quality of life for many years.Arizona Veterinary Internal Medicine is well-equipped to diagnose and treat complex cardiology conditions in animals.

The mission of Arizona Veterinary Internal Medicine
is to provide the highest quality of
internal medicine and cardiology services
to our patients and the people who love them.

Echocardiography

Dr. Church performs echocardiography with a new, state-of-the-art, GE Vivid-I® ultrasound machine. The Vivid-I ultrasound machine has excellent two dimensional harmonic imaging along with Doppler modalities such as pulse wave, continuous wave, color flow, and tissue velocity imaging. These capabilities allow comprehensive evaluation of valvular insufficiencies, outflow obstructions, complex congenital heart disease, and systolic pump function. The tissue Doppler velocity imaging allows evaluation of the relaxation properties of the heart that are of most concern in diseases such as hypertrophic or restrictive cardiomyopathy and may be an early indicator of dilated cardiomyopathy. Tissue Doppler also allows more accurate estimation of left atrial pressure for cases of respiratory distress suspected to be secondary to heart failure. These combined technology features allow early and accurate detection of a wide range of cardiac disease conditions.

Cardiac Consultations

Dr. Church provides complete cardiac examinations for referred patients, performing additional diagnostics as needed to enable comprehensive cardiovascular evaluations. Such additional diagnostic tests may include echocardiography, electrocardiograms, chest radiographs, blood pressure evaluation, Holter monitoring, pericardiocentesis, and event monitoring. Dr. Church also performs OFA cardiac breed certifications.

Specialty of Cardiology

Interventional Cardiology

Dr. Church has established a complete cardiac referral service that includes an interventional cardiac catheterization lab at the Arizona Veterinary Specialty Center in Gilbert. Services include patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure via Amplatz Canine Ductal Occluder® or coil embolization, balloon valvuloplasty for pulmonic stenosis, pacemaker implantation, heartworm extraction, invasive pressure measurements, and angiography.